Her Sun
by chemicalxrachel
Summary: What if Bella had been born and raised in Forks with her father, spending time in the summer with her mother in Arizona? What if Bella had an on and off relationship with Jacob Black? And who are the new kids in school? The Cullens? Jacob/Bella
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What if Bella had been born and raised in Forks with her father, spending time in the summer with her mother in Arizona? What if Bella had an on and off relationship with Jacob Black? And who are the new kids in school? The Cullens?

A/N: Warning, this IS A JACOB/BELLA FANFICTION! With a little Edward/Bella mixed in. Ultimately {if this is continued} it will be a Jake/Bella thing. I don't much like Edward, but I'm going to try and write impartially for him.

In this story Jacob is closer to Bella's age. For this story Bella was born on September 13, 1987 and Jacob was born on January 14, 1988. I've never written for the wolves before, so bare with me and let me know how I do!

Rated M for language, sexual situations and possible future chapters.

Also, I don't own any of the characters or what not. Thats Stephenie Meyer. If I did though Bella would have definitely had more werewolf action than vampire action. Though...Alice and Jasper are just about perfect 3.

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Chapter 1: Their Arrival

Bellas POV

Everything was pretty perfect. While Forks wasn't always my favorite place to be, it was when Jacob and I were getting along. I loved Jacob, I really had. Ever since we were kids we'd been inseparable. Charlie had joked with me that I'd thrown a fit with Renee had threatened to take me away from Forks with her. I was the sole reason that she hadn't taken me with her. At least my mother cared about what I wanted.

And when we were thirteen years old Jacob and I changed a little. I'd noticed him slowly becoming more of a man than a boy. Now, he was still a boy but I'd notice more about him. Like the way he smelled perfectly like a mixture of the woods and cinnamon, a mixture that was purely Jake. And his growth spurt that put him taller than me.

When we were fourteen is when he confessed that he liked me on the beach in La Push. I'd been so over the moon about that and immediately decided that the strange reactions I'd had to him being close meant that I liked him back. Our first kiss had been right there on La Push beach, our bodies melding together sweetly in a way I hadn't realized I'd like.

Now, my mother had given me ' _the talk_ ' when I got a boyfriend. It'd been embarrassing sitting there talking to my mother about such things. But talking to Charlie about sex was out. Charlie nearly had a heart attack when I'd told him I needed a bra. I loved Charlie but he just didn't understand the perils of being a teenage girl. Luckily I'd gotten to spend time in Phoenix with Renee and she'd taken me bra shopping instead.

I was fifteen when I realized my teenage crush had turned into love. Though Jacobs relationship and I was strained at times it was great. We'd broken up once or twice only to come back together in the end.

But when I'd turned sixteen just a few months ago Charlie had been great. He'd gotten me a new truck, an old truck of Billy Blacks, my boyfriends father. It was great, a first taste of freedom. And I had Jacob to look after it for me. That boy was talented when it came to cars and motorized things in general.

It was the beginning of September and the town was abuzz. Forks was a small town and the smallest thing stirred gossip. Apparently we had a new doctor in town, a man named Carlisle Cullen. He'd moved into the huge abandoned mansion just outside of town with his wife and children. Apparently his children would be in high school with me. Though, his kids weren't really his real kids. They were adoptive kids. News spread quick that Mrs. Cullen couldn't have children so they'd just adopted a few kids.

I wasn't really interested. Gossip wasn't much my thing, I was much more interested in getting the day at school over and heading over to La Push in order to see my Jacob. Possibly hang out on the beach or around a bonfire in Jacobs yard with a few friends. I spent much more time with the natives than with the 'pale faces' as Jacob and his friends teasingly called us. Of course, I was one of those pale faces.

I walked into my science class as usual, the day going by in a pretty boring manner as I moved to take my seat. I wasn't even paying attention as Mike Newton droned on about something or another. Now, Mike had been trying to date me for two years now, ever since Jacob and I took a small break. That break had only been about a month when he'd done something dumb and I'd been mad at him. I never could remember the nature of the arguments when we had one. But Mike hadn't given up. Sure it annoyed Jacob, and I was flattered that he'd been jealous, but I wasn't interested in Mike Newton even if Jake and I broke up for good.

Looking up I noticed someone different coming into our classroom. It was a tall boy with unusually pale skin, even for Forks, and golden hair. He was gorgeous, even I could admit that. Of course I had the most gorgeous boy in all of Forks all to myself. But this boy was different in a way I didn't quite understand.

He looked up and his golden eyes met mine in confusion. I wasn't sure what that confusion meant though.

The boy talked to the teacher who motioned him to the empty seat beside me, and he moved to take it. Sliding his books on the table and looking up at me, that same confusion written all over his gorgeous face. But I didn't get what that confusion was about.

I straightened up in my chair, my notebook already laid out in front of me and looked up at the boy. "Hello. I'm Bella Swan. You must be one of the new kids." I said politely, looking up at him and examining him for a moment.

He swallowed as he slowly slid his book down to rest on the table. "Edward Cullen." he said shortly as he took a seat. But he still looked at me strangely from the side of his eyes. It made me uncomfortable, it made me shift in my seat. Oh this was going to be a fun class.

I nearly jumped when my phone buzzed on the table. Looking down at it I opened it to see a text message from Jacob.

 _'You coming to the rez after school?'_

I smiled at his text. Of course I would come to the rez after school. Leaning against the table to text him back.

 _'But of course. Get back to class, Black. Love you.'_

A smile was on my face as I hit send. I wouldn't call myself a normal lovesick teenager. I loved Jacob Black, sure, but I wasn't one of those girls. The kind of clingy girls that couldn't go without her boyfriend. Though I did enjoy getting a text from the guy I loved randomly through the day.

I looked back down as my phone buzzed again.

 _'You too Swan. Bring your bathing suit, we're going cliff diving.'_

 _'Cliff Diving? Are you nuts Jake? No way.'_

It was way too cold to go swimming. And I didn't do well in the water anyway, I was uncoordinated and tended to fall a lot. I never got the boys obsession with cliff diving. I'd done it once when it was sort of warm in the summer. But the water had always been ice cold, way too ice cold for my tastes.

 _'Party pooper. Fine. Bonfire?'_

 _'Cool. Can you look at my truck while I'm there? It's making a noise..'_

 _'Bells, its ancient, it makes noises. But sure. Class. Love you.'_

I smiled and closed my phone, putting it back into my bag. When I looked up I noticed the new kid, Edward Cullen, watching me curiously still. Blinking slowly as I looked at him, shifting uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

Though I was right. Class was odd. Edward shifted in his seat uncomfortably, watching me from the corner of his eye. One of his hands was over his mouth and nose and he barely touched the sample for the lab we were doing. He wouldn't even speak to me at all. He was acting like I had the plague or something.

When he wasn't looking I inconspicuously leaned to smell my hair. It smelled like strawberries, like my shampoo. So it definitely wasn't me.

A second before the bell rang Edward was up and dashing out of the room as though something was chasing him and it only confused me more about him. Maybe he just wasn't friendly, I didn't know. I didn't think I'd done anything to offend him at all.

But I tried to shrug it off. At lunch time I sat with my usual crowd, Jessica, Lauren, Angela, Mike and Eric. They were chattering about something or another and I sat half paying attention.

"So Bella..." Mike began, looking at him. "You wanna go to a movie with me this weekend?"

Oh no. I sighed as I looked up to Mike. "Mike...you know I'm with Jake..."

"Yeah I know. But like...we could make it a group thing? Huh? We'll all go? How does that sound guys?" he asked, looking around the table as my traitorous friends agreed that a movie would be fun.

"Maybe. I'll ask Jake tonight okay?" I asked. I didn't like the idea of spending a couple of hours in a dark theater with Jacob on one side and Mike on the other. With Mike stupidly hoping that I would suddenly have an epiphany and lunge into his arms like he was my long lost prince charming or something.

"Yeah thats cool. Or, you know, the rez guys don't have to come with us. It could just be us off-rez people..." he suggested. He obviously didn't like Jacob, I'd always known that.

We all glanced up when the door opened and five people slowly walked in. One girl was a beautiful blonde who was holding hands with a bigger guy with dark hair. The other girl in the group was small, though she was just as beautiful with pixie like qualities, short cropped brown hair. And that girl was holding hands with a tall blonde man who almost looked like he was in pain. Trailing behind those two were Edward. And they all had the same strange golden eyes.

Those must be Edwards siblings. We watched them move to sit down and it surprised me when the short girl sat so close to that tall blonde and he put an arm around her shoulders. I watched as he brushed his lips over her cheek and his nose brushed hers. She smiled up at him and claimed his lips in a soft kiss before she leaned back, looking at the others at the table.

And the beautiful blonde girl sat with the big guy, his arm around her waist as they picked at their food. What was with these people? Weren't they siblings?

"Wow, they're all like...beautiful." Jessica said as she gawked at them.

"I heard they're all siblings. Well, not blood related though. That handsome new doctor adopted them." Angela chimed in, leaning on her elbows against the desk.

Jessica shot a glance to them and shifted, leaning into the table as though she were about to reveal a secret. "Well, I know the little ones name is Alice, and the guy she's with is Jasper. They're in my English class. That girl is totally weird. She stared off into space so many times. And the guy? Yeah he hovered and looked like he'd snap someones head off if they got near her. I think they're _together-together_." she muttered conspiratorially.

"No way..." Lauren said, leaning against the table.

"The guy by himself is named Edward." I chimed in, picking at my food. Looking up, Edward was watching me curiously once more. His eyes bore into mine and it made me blush and look back to my friends.

"Its weird, they live in the same house!" Jessica muttered, glancing over at them again. She giggled a bit. "Hey Bella. That Edward is looking at you."

My blush became deeper as I shifted nervously in my seat. "I know. Stop bringing it up. Ignore it. I'm with _Jake_." I insisted.

:-:-:-:-:

The rest of the day was boring and nothing really happened. I didn't have classes with any of the other Cullen kids during the day. But when I walked out to my truck I saw them around a silver volvo. That was a really, really nice car. But I ignored it and got into my car, starting it as quickly as I can before pulling out to head towards the rez.

Today had been such an odd day with Edward Cullen showing up.

I drove down to La Push and to Jacobs house. Of course he was already home, he'd come home right after school. I parked my truck just by the garage and hopped out, grabbing my back pack before walking into the garage. I knew he'd be there, in the garage. Thats where he always was.

And I was right. He sat on a stool in the garage messing with the lawn mower. I smiled up at him as I moved behind him. Resting my backpack down, I slid my hands to rest on his shoulders.

"Hey there. What'd you do to that lawn mower?"

He leaned to kiss my hand as he worked, looking at what he was doing. "Tuning it up. I'd run over something with it yesterday." he said in a strained voice as he pulled on something. I wasn't mechanical so I had no clue what he was really doing.

"I'd hug you but my hands are dirty." he said, bringing his hands out of the mower and holding them up to show me.

I laughed and nodded, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. "Smart move, Black. I might have to kick your ass." I teased before I let him go, moving to sit on the stool on the other side of the mower.

He chuckled back, looking up at me over the mower before down at what he was doing again. He was a beautiful man, he'd really grown up over the years. His muscles were more defined and he'd shot up like a weed. And even in the past couple of days he seemed to have grown. He really looked good without his shirt on.

But he sat there with the offensive shirt on, covering his muscular chest from my view. His long dark hair was tied back in a loose pony tail and he wore a pair of dark jeans with a long sleeved grey shirt, the shirt sleeves pushed up over his arms.

"So...anything fun happen with the pale faces?" he teased.

I shrugged. "Theres some new kids in school. Five of them. It's the talk of the school, they're the Cullens."

He seemed to pause his movements when I said their names, shaking his head and going back to what he was doing. "Oh yeah? Not many new people move here."

"Nope. Who would want to? It's rainy and dreary all the time. And cold. I hate the cold." I said. Jacob was truly the one reason I wanted to stay in Forks, he was my sun in the darkness that was Forks, Washington.

A grin moved over his lips as he laughed. "Oh yeah? Why do you stay then huh? Your moms is nice." he said. He'd gone with her once on a visit for spring break a year ago and Arizona had been perfect to him. Having him there was perfect too. He'd actually been my date to my mothers wedding to Phil too. Both Phil and Renee liked Jacob, everyone seemed to like Jacob.

"Because my sun is here. And where would the earth be without her sun?" I teased right back, smiling up at him as he looked up at me over the mower.

"Good answer." he said, shaking his head as he looked down at the mower. "I doubt my dad is going to like the Cullen's being in town..." he said with a sigh.

Well, that peaked my interest. "Why not? It's just a family. I think I heard the dad was the doctor in town.."

"Yeah well, you know the Quileute legends right?"

"Yeah who hasn't?"

"You remember the one about the ah...what did dad call them...the cold ones?"

I thought for a moment, shifting on my stool before I nodded. "Yeah sort of. Where there was a family of cold ones and the old Quileute tribe made a pact with them to keep them off your lands or something?"

"Mmhm. And that we're apparently descended wolves.." he said, rolling his eyes. "Well, Cullen is a name I heard in that story a couple of times."

"Maybe your dad doesn't need to know? I mean he rarely ever leaves the reservation..." I suggested.

Jacob nodded, sitting back a little. "I'm not telling him." he said as he reached for a towel. Looking up at me he grinned, wiping off his hands. "Now, I get my hug and a proper kiss." he stated.

I laughed, moving to stand up and step away for a moment. "Nooo no no Jake, you're still a mess!"

"I don't care." he growled playfully. Moving towards me, he trapped me in his arms and pulled me against his chest, looking down into my eyes making me blush and squirm.

"Jake!" I giggled, resting my hands on his strong chest and looking up at him.

In a moment his lips claimed mine in a slow, sweet kiss. I let my eyes fall closed and leaned into it. Even though I wanted to be upset at him for possibly putting stains on my shirt and jeans, his kiss sort of pushed those worries on the back burner and I melted into his chest. He felt positively good, my whole body hummed as I kissed him.

What started as a soft kiss slowly turned more passionate. I leaned up on my toes to kiss him deeper, tilting my head to one side as my lips moved against his. I could feel his hands grip my hips and gently push me back, pressing me into that old car he'd been restoring slowly but surely.

It was so perfect, he was perfect. My fingers moved up his arms and tangled in his hair at the base of his neck, messing up his pony tail a bit. While his hands moved up and down my sides, squeezing me lightly as he kissed. When his lips left mine I started to groan my disapproval until I felt his lips trailing down my jawline and neck. His hands returned to my hips and gripped them, pressing his chest into mine.

A blush crossed my cheeks as I felt his arousal against my abdomen, shuddering a little. We hadn't actually had sex yet. But we were a teenage couple who had experimented in things. I'd seen him naked before and we'd definitely let things get heated a couple of times. But we just hadn't actually had sex yet.

I let out a light moan as his lips trailed down my neck and along my collarbone. It felt like heaven in his arms and my whole body hummed at his touch. The trials of the day - including the strange Edward Cullen - were forgotten here in Jacobs arms.

"Hey Black!" a voice called from the garage doors, causing us to jump. But Jacob didn't jump away from me. He let out an almost animalistic growl as he glanced back.

"Embry. Learn to fucking knock would you?" he asked one of his best friends, and I couldn't help but giggle as Jacob pushed back off of me, moving around to sit back on his stool.

I looked up to see Embry walk in, nodding to him. "Hello Embry."

"Bellaaaa." Embry grinned up at me. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No." I muttered

But Jacob chimed in too, "YES." he growled, glaring up at his friend. "What do you want?"

"Grumpy grumpy. Sorry I cock blocked you dude."

"Heyyy.." I muttered with a blush, shaking my head. "Inappropriate. Besides we weren't going to _do_ anything out here." I insisted, looking up at Embry.

It was fun hanging out with the rez boys. I liked them all, Jacob and his friends could rough house a lot though. "Oh, before I forget. Do you guys want to go to the movies with me and some friends from my school this weekend?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably.

Jacob nodded. "Yeah sure babe, I'm down."

"You're _always_ down Jake." Embry said, playfully shoving his shoulder. Jacob laughed and shoved back.

"Shut up. If you could get a girl you'd want to hang out with her too."

"Oh now you've done it Black!"

And there they went. I laughed as they started play fighting right there in the garage, shaking my head. I'd discovered it was just better to let them do whatever they were going to do. It was hilarious watching them sometimes. Part of me always worried that Jake would get hurt, but I knew better.

Shaking my head I pushed to sit on the hood of the old car, watching them.

:-:-:-:-:

Embry had agreed to go and said he'd ask Quil too. It was getting later now though but I was still on the rez. Charlie came over to the Blacks for dinner like usual since I spent most of my time there and I was the one that cooked. I was pretty sure Charlie couldn't cook toast on his own.

After dinner Charlie and Billy sat on the couch to watch a game and Jake and I snuck back to his room. As a general rule we weren't allowed in Jakes room with the door closed. But most of the time our dads didn't even notice. Jakes dad didn't really care, but mine could be overprotective sometimes. So long as we had the door open again once the game was over.

I giggled as Jacob playfully tackled me onto his small twin bed that barely fit us both. Laying back, I looked up at Jacob and smiled, my hands moving to rest on his arms. "Just what are you doing?"

"Well...I think...I'm about to thoroughly kiss my beautiful girlfriend." he said as his head dipped down to kiss my lips slowly.

And he was definitely thorough. I shuddered as my hands rubbed his arms slowly, shifting on the bed. Leaning back from the kiss I shook my head. "Come on Jake our dads are here. This is a small house."

"But I missed you.." he whined, slowly beginning to kiss down the side of my neck, feeling his hands on my sides and hips, rubbing slowly.

"We've been together all day."

"Yes but not _quality_ time." he insisted. Kissing my neck, I felt as his tongue licked out over my skin making me swallow thickly. My eyes closed and my head tilted back.

I giggled again and shook my head, gently pushing him up. "Come on Jake, I really have to get homework done tonight."

"Liar." he teased, sitting up on his elbows. "Fine, I'll let you do your homework." he said as he moved off of me. Sitting up on one side of the bed, spreading his legs and patting the bed in front of him.

Reaching over, I grabbed my backpack and moved to settle between his legs. Feeling his arms move around me as I took my books out, trying to pick which subject to do first.

We sat in silence as I did homework and Jacob watched me. Shifting a bit as I got to science, looking at the page I sighed slowly. Jacob seemed to notice and he looked up at me. "Don't like science?"

"No it's not that. I'm just thinking I guess..."

"What about?" he asked, kissing the base of my neck slowly.

"About class today. You know I told you about the Cullens? Well I have class with one of them. Edward. All of class he sat there...staring at me with his hand over his nose and mouth. Like...like he couldn't stand the smell of me or something. And he just watched me with this strange intensity...like he was curious about me. Like I was a freak or something." I muttered slowly, chewing on my bottom lip.

I felt his hands rubbing up my sides as he tugged me closer to his chest, shaking his head. "He's an asshole Bells."

"Jake!"

"No, he is. Don't pay any attention to him. You're perfect." he insisted, kissing the side of my head slowly, his lips lingering on my skin. "And I love you. His opinion doesn't matter."

"Yeah I suppose you're right. I'm just worrying over nothing as usual. I'm sure it'll be fine." I said, looking down at my notebook, chewing on my bottom lip. "It's weird though. They're all so... _perfect._ I mean like, they're adopted but each of them are way too pretty. Perfect skin, hair. And they all have the same eyes."

"You're perfect." he said, rubbing my arms and slipping his hands around my waist, rubbing his fingers against my skin just above my jeans.

I shook my head, glancing back at him and smiling. "Your bias. But no, they're a different kind of perfect." I said with a shrug "It doesn't matter, don't worry about it." I insisted, closing my books and pushing them off to the side. Shifting up, I turned to face him. Noticing his legs move down so I could straddle his waist, smiling as I leaned to kiss him. "I still don't get what you see in me. I'll never understand it."

"Well..." he started, his hands resting on my hips and pulling me forward. Leaning up to kiss my chin, placing light kisses over my jawline. "I think you're perfect and beautiful. And fun to be around. What other girl will sit in my garage while I'm working on a car and be happy just spending time like that? Or, how many girls could put up with my friends? Especially Quil and Embry. I love you Bells, don't ever doubt that."

I shuddered at his words, leaning down to claim his lips in a slow kiss. My lips moved gently over his and I parted them to allow his tongue to dip into my mouth, tasting him as his tongue played with mine. This boy was perfect to me, my perfect sun.

"BELLA!" I heard Charlie's voice from the living room, making me sigh sadly as I leaned back from the kiss, smiling.

"Coming Charlie!" I called back, kissing the tip of Jacob's nose before I moved to stand up, pushing my books in my bag. "So...that movie this weekend..."

"Like I said, I'm there babe. Wherever you are is where I'm at." he said, slipping to sit at the edge of the bed, handing me my notebook. "Want me to come over to your house tomorrow? Or you come here?"

I thought about that for a moment and shrugged. "My house? And bring your homework. I don't get when you get that stuff done, but you're doing it tomorrow."

"Yes Ma'am!" he mocked with a grin, looking up at me and I laughed.

"Shut up."

"Fine." he said, moving to stand up and kissing me lightly before I leaned back.

Stepping back I opened his bedroom door, looking back at him. "Goodnight Jake. I'll see you tomorrow."

:-:-:-:-:

The next day was even stranger. What made it strange was Edward Cullens strange absence. I wasn't quite sure what was up with him, but I had the distinct feeling like he was avoiding me. It wasn't like he just changed classes, no, he wasn't even in at lunch with his family. And I noticed his shorter pixie like sister giving me slow side glances during the entire lunch period. But she looked at me differently, she looked at me with soft eyes and gave me a smile when I'd noticed her.

People were already talking about the strange small girl. People called her weird and a freak.

When it came to my last class of the day, English, I'd taken my seat as usual. I liked English, it was my favorite subject. I read a lot, and with Jacob I also liked reading out loud. He usually enjoyed the sound of my voice as I read one of the novels we were supposed to be reading for classes. He wasn't in the same school but it was the same basic curriculum so we usually were reading the same books for our English classes. School on the rez though had much more tribal history classes than I did.

I wasn't paying attention when someone gracefully took the two empty seats next to mine. As I looked up I saw that girl, the short pixie Cullen girl, and the tall man she was usually with sitting next to me. I blinked up at them as the girl turned to me and smiled warmly.

"Hello! I'm Alice and this is Jasper." she said cheerily, holding her hand out to mine.

I took it slowly, shaking her hand and blinking at her unusually cold skin. "Um, hello. I'm...Bella..." I replied slowly and curiously.

She smiled happily at me as she sat up straight, crossing her legs. "We're going to be _good_ friends! I can just tell." she said happily. This girl seemed entirely too happy and I just blinked at her.

Looking up towards Jasper though he was staring at me strangely. I wasn't sure what that look was, an intensity lingered behind his eyes and he looked as though he was in pain. Though part of him was watching me, especially when I was this close to Alice. Protective much?

"You met my brother Edward yesterday didn't you?"

I was mortified, he'd mentioned that? "Uh...yeah...in science. He wasn't in today..."

"No he went out of town to visit our cousins in Alaska."

"Alaska?" I asked. I was amazed people wanted to live there. Sometimes it amazed me that people lived here. Then again, I lived here.

"Mmhm. Thats where we're from." she said happily. Sitting back in her chair I saw as she moved to take Jaspers hand in hers, letting their fingers twine together as she smiled sweetly up at him. And it was cute, the two of them seemed so strange yet so cute together.

Though I didn't want to pry. And the teacher walked in to start class. But I was pretty sure Alice and Jasper did not have English with me yesterday. I tried to shrug it off and concentrate on class.

:-:-:-:-:

Things went pretty much back to normal after that. I didn't really see Edward in school anymore, but Alice was a welcome friend. She was nice and peppy. Though during class sometimes her eyes went to a far away place and Jasper would hover with his arm around her shoulders protectively. I could see why people talked about her, but I wouldn't be one of those people.

And then suddenly a little more than a week after meeting Alice when I walked into my science class I saw him sitting there. Edward Cullen.

Swallowing nervously I walked to sit in my seat, getting my books out and shifting as I looked up at the board, attempting not to linger in the awkwardness.

"Hello." his velvet voice said beside me, almost making me jump as I looked up at him. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself before. I'm Edward Cullen..."

"Um...I'm Bella...Bella Swan. Nice to...meet you." I said hesitantly.

He flashed me a smile as the teacher began class. We were working on a lab and he passed out the slides to each group along with the microscopes. It was strange, this Edward seemed almost nice as he offered me to look at the first slide.

We worked on the lab here and there, and all in all it was a pretty easy lab. The silence was a bit awkward for a while though as I looked up at him. "So um...enjoying the...rain?" I asked in an attempt to start a conversation not related to the lab.

He chuckled and nodded. "You could say that. The rain doesn't bother me."

"Not me." I muttered, shuddering. "I hate the rain. And the cold. Any cold, wet thing...I just...hate."

He looked at me curiously and laughed. "And yet you live in a town that it rains more often than anything else.."

"Yeah well, I was born and raised here. My mom lives in Phoenix though. Well she might be moving to Jacksonville soon."

"Why not move in with her then?" he asked softly.

I thought about that for a moment. Is this where I told him about Jacob? I shrugged and smiled a bit, looking into the microscope and identifying the cell inside before I sat back, shrugging. "My life is here." I stated simply, and that was true, Jacob was my life.

But why didn't I just outright tell him? I smiled a bit as I thought, remembering my response to Jacob whenever he teased and asked me why I didn't move in with Renee. Where would the Earth be without her Sun? Jacob was truly my sun. But for some reason I didn't tell that to Edward.

He just nodded as though he understood, continuing with the lab as he looked up to me. "What is there to do here in Forks?" he asked.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Nothing really. Well theres the movies in Port Angeles, if you don't mind the drive. Oh, theres La Push Beach. Theres always bonfires down there at night with the locals, and some kids like to swim and surf, when it's not too cold. Oh and theres cliff diving in La Push. I went a couple of times, I don't like it much. I prefer to sit on the beach while the boys cliff dive and watch them."

"The boys? Your friends in school?"

"Oh no.." I muttered with a chuckle. "The guys down in La Push. They're a great group of guys. My dad is friends with some of their dads, they go fishing all the time so I always spent more time growing up in La Push than anywhere else."

He seemed to visibly tense at my answer as though he was anxious. "La Push hm? We don't...go to La Push." he stated stiffly.

"You don't? Why not?" I asked, tilting my head to one side as I looked up at him.

He paused a moment, seeming to be thinking about it and wondering what to say. "My father...would prefer us not to."

I stared at him and shrugged. "Well theres not much else to do in town really..." I said slowly. Though I wasn't too sure what other locals did since I spent so much time on La Push.

We chatted about other things that were small. Movies, music, school and various things in town. Edward was a nice guy and I was surprised that I was kind of liking him. If I didn't have Jacob I might even be interested in him.

After class he walked me to my locker before lunch, chatting with each other. It was nice chatting with him, but I felt bad. I hadn't even mentioned Jacob once, Jacob my _boyfriend_. That was kind of an important thing to establish when talking so much with someone.

:-:-:-:-:

When I got home my conversation with Edward was still replaying in my ears. I'd even forgotten that today was a day that Jacob was coming by. When I heard the knock at my door I almost jumped on the couch. Standing up, I walked over to open it and was embraced by Jacob immediately.

I smiled and hugged him back, looking up at him. "Hey Jake..."

"Don't say you forgot I was coming over?"

" _We_ , Jake. We." Billy said from behind him and I smiled to him.

"Hey Billy. Come on in." I insisted, holding the door open for Jacob to help roll Billy's wheelchair up into my house. Once they were inside I closed the door and looked at them. "Charlie won't be in for about a half an hour." I said as I looked at the clock. Wow I'd really stared off into space _that_ long?

"Thats okay, I can wait. Besides I brought Harry Clearwater's home made fish fry." he said enthusiastically, holding up a brown paper bag for me.

I took it slowly and gave him a small smile. "Wow, thanks.." I said. Looking up at Jake I knew that he knew I wasn't that excited about it. Fish wasn't my favorite, but I knew Charlie loved it. "Well, make yourself comfortable." I said as I walked into the kitchen to put the fish fry away.

Instantly I felt Jake behind me and smiled when he cornered me at the counter. Leaning forward against it, I glanced back at him. "Jake stop, your dad.." I muttered as his lips began attacking my neck in slow kisses. I couldn't help but giggle as he found a sensitive spot. "Jakeee..."

"Oh relax Bells. He doesn't care. Its _your_ dad that cares." he stated as he patted my hips before leaning back against the counter next to me. "How was school?"

"Good..." I said slowly, almost hesitantly. I wasn't sure how much to tell him about Edward.

"Alright what happened now? Is Lauren being a bitch again?"

I smacked his shoulder, shaking my head. "No. That Cullen kid, Edward, showed up again today. He's pretty cool. Though he says he doesn't go down to La Push, that his dad told him not to. Weird huh?"

He tensed for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe he just can't hang with the natives like you can." he teased, and I smiled.

"Maybe. But he's nice."

" _Nice_ huh?" he asked and I could sense the jealousy in his voice that made me smile just a bit.

Slowly I moved in front of him, resting my hands on his hips, leaning up to kiss him slowly. "Why, Jacob Black are you jealous?"

He smiled as his arms moved around my torso, pulling me close to his chest and kissing my forehead as my cheek pressed into his chest. "Do I have anything to be jealous about?"

I thought about that for a moment before shaking my head. "No, no you don't. What is the Earth to do without her Sun after all?" I asked, smiling as I closed my head and took in a deep breath, smelling Jacobs scent, the scent that was home to me.

After all I could have entertained the idea of liking Edward Cullen, I didn't think he'd ever feel like this. He'd never feel like home the way my Jacob did. He was the instant light in my life and the only one that could make me feel quite this happy.

He smiled as he held me, rubbing my back slowly, leaning to kiss the rim of my ear lightly. "I love you.." he whispered slowly against my ear.

"I love you too." I said back. And then I knew it was true. I did love Jacob Black, and the small bit of doubt Edward had let seep into my mind disappeared with this moment.

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A/N: Andd chapter Fin! Let me know what you think.

Read and review, let me knowww! Should I keep going? Or should I give up?

This story will ~sort of~ follow the Twilight series events. There will be correlation's but everything will be drastically different with this new outlook. _Obviously_ there will be werewolves at some point.

So. Yup. Thats it. A dribble from my brain and I hope ya'll like it!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So yeah Alice is probably my favorite female vampire in the series. Soo, I'm going to input more of Alice too. :-p. I love Alice and Jasper together too, they're so adorable. If you like Alice and Jasper too head on over to my profile and check out the story _Southern Love_.

I'm glad some of you have liked this story! To reply to one of the reviews _yes_ Edward will find out about Jacob, and I know just how to do it - it'll come in this chapter.

And as I'd said this will follow _some_ of the events of the Twilight series while leaving some out. And it won't be perfect, there will be some changes.

Oh and *warning* there is a...aherm... _slight_ lemon in this chapter :-p.

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Chapter 2:

Bella's POV

Everything in Forks seemed to move forward. Of course the Cullens were still the talk of the town, nothing much happened in this town. And Edward and I maintained a sort of friendship. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on between us, but we chatted during science and then he usually walked with me to lunch before we separated from each other to sit with our friends. Well, me with my friends and him with his family.

I hadn't quite told him about Jacob yet, and I felt guilty about that. Jacob was my boyfriend, though I mildly wondered if Edward was flirting with me at times. I really needed to just set him straight.

Something else was off with Edward and his entire family, I just wasn't sure what it was. I noticed his eyes change, darken from a golden color to almost black, and then back to their original golden hue. Alice's did the same thing. Alice was the nicest girl I'd ever met, we were pretty close friends even though we only talked during class.

Before school one day I was leaning against my truck. It was beginning to get cold and the rain was starting to turn more into ice than water. Charlie had put chains on my tires to help with the icy weather. But I still hated it. Ice and the uncoordinated do not get along, and I was definitely a member of the uncoordinated.

I was a little early for class as I slid out of my truck, pulling my jacket closed tighter as I picked up my bag. Looking up I saw the Cullens standing by their cars, smiling a bit and waving to them as I saw Edward look towards me. I'd decided I was going to tell him about Jacob. Today. I had to.

Pulling my bag over my shoulder I moved to shut the door. I didn't even see Tyler's car skidding through the parking lot until I heard the tires. Looking up I saw it skidding along the ice and straight towards me. I attempted to brace myself, but I felt strong arms pushing me downwards and heard the metal.

Looking up I saw Edward kneeling next to me, his hand imbedded in the side of Tyler's car, the tail end of the car having dented my own. It was all happening so fast my brain could barely register it. How had Edward gotten across the parking lot to me so quickly? He'd been across the parking lot I was sure of it.

It seemed like everyone in school was quickly surrounding my car, asking questions. Tyler even looked out his car, blood dribbling down the side of his head to apologize to me, jabbering on about how he couldn't control his car.

I was more concerned with how Edward had gotten to me so impossibly fast, so _inhumanly_ fast. I looked up at his face with a dazed expression as he gently helped me stand up. I had so many questions but I wasn't quite sure where to begin, or if I should begin. Does someone just ask their friends these questions?

We were ushered into ambulances, and even though I protested they insisted. I did hit my head a little, but it wasn't that bad, nothing a couple of aspirin couldn't fix. But Edward got to ride in the front of the ambulance whereas I had to ride in the back, which annoyed me. And before I knew it I was sitting in the hospital emergency room waiting for the doctor to come and look me over, even though I insisted I was fine.

Looking up I saw Edward sitting on a bed next to me and he looked up at me with a small smile. "You alright?"

"Yeah...this is too much really. How come you got to ride in the front and I had to ride in the back? Really I'm fine."

He chuckled a bit. "Perks of having your father as the head doctor I suppose."

I couldn't help that I was a bit jealous about that. I was perfectly fine. Of course though rumor was running rampant and I was sure everyone in town knew what had happened by now. It was a small town, after all. And I knew that they'd call Charlie. It was so embarrassing really.

And I heard Charlie enter before I saw him. Inwardly I cringed at the idea of my father being alerted to this. Granted it was better than Renee knowing. Charlie wouldn't hover, Renee would.

Charlie walked up to my bedside, looking down at me. "What happened Bella?" he asked sternly, with a bit of fatherly concern mixed in. Charlie wasn't the best with emotions.

"It was an accident. I'm fine really. It's all unnecessary."

"Yeah well the doctor will tell me that." he said. Hearing Tyler starting to mutter another apology Charlie shot him a look. "Hey. You and I will talk later." he said, pulling the curtain between us so Tyler would sit back in his seat.

"Really, Tyler is hurt worse than me. I just hit my head. But it's just a headache."

I looked up in time to catch the sight of the doctor walking in. He was beautiful with short blonde hair and golden eyes. The same golden eyes as his children I noted. And he was just as pale. Slowly Doctor Cullen walked over to my father and I and flashed us a charming smile.

"I heard the Chief's daughter was in." the doctor said with that smile as he walked towards us.

Charlie gave him a nod. "Hello Doctor Cullen."

"Charlie." he said with a nod as he settled in front of me. "I've got this one." he said to the nurse as he took my charts, looking down as his eyes scanned the print on the paper. "Isabella..."

"It's just Bella." I insisted. I hated when peopled called me Isabella. Jake liked to do that to poke fun at me.

He smiled again and nodded. "Well Bella, it looks to me like you took quite a spill. How are you feeling?" he asked with concern as he closed the paper and looked up at me.

"I'm fine really..." I insisted again, getting quite tired of people asking already.

"Well, look here." he said as he held up a finger and a light, looking at my eyes. "You might have slight disorientation, but your vitals look good. No signs of any head trauma, I think you'll be just fine."

"Yeah, I'd be a lot worse if Edward wasn't there.."

This peaked my dads interest. "Edward?" he asked, looking up at the doctor. "Your boy?"

"Yeah it was amazing." I said before the doctor could answer. "He got to me so fast, he wasn't anywhere near me."

Doctor Cullen looked up to me curiously for a moment before he just nodded. "Sounds like you got very lucky. I don't see a reason to keep you, you can go home when you like." he said, looking up at Charlie, nodding to him. "Chief Swan." he said before he moved onto another patients bedside.

I nodded, looking up at Charlie with an 'I told you so' look. "See, I told you I'm fine." as I slid off the bed, reaching to take my jacket. Looking back I noticed Edward was talking to his father in small voices before he walked out of the room. I wasn't sure what was going on with him but part of me was determined to find out.

Charlie and I walked out of the emergency room and I could tell something was wrong. "Well um...you might want to...call your mother."

I stopped in my tracks, my eyes shooting up at him. "You didn't..."

He gave me a sympathetic look and sighed. "I had to Bells, I didn't know how bad it was and she's your mother.."

"God she's probably...probably just freaking out." I said as I took my phone from my pocket, sending my mother a quick text that I was okay and would call her later.

Taking a few steps away from my father and towards the exit, I didn't even hear him coming when I felt strong arms envelop me in the tightest of hugs. Being pulled against a strong male chest I took in a breath. I hadn't even heard him coming. Either he was getting quieter or I was getting neglectful.

"Jake...what're you doing here?" I asked, looking up at him as I moved to wrap my arms around his strong waist.

"Your father text me. He thought I could go with you to get your truck and then take you home. How does pizza tonight sound?"

I smiled a little. So, Charlie did have some sense. I glanced at Charlie and nodded my thanks before looking back up at Jacob. "Wouldn't you be skipping class too? What will Billy say about that?"

"Billy won't care. It's one day." he said, kissing the top of my head and then my temple slowly. I enjoyed being enveloped in his arms, I always felt safe there, as though nothing could hurt me there. Hiding my face in his shoulder I smiled, hugging him a bit tighter.

"Come on you two, I'll give you a ride to the school. I'll be outside in the cruiser." Charlie said as he walked away. I loved Charlie and I loved that he didn't freak out about Jake and me anymore.

I smiled up at Jacob, leaning to kiss him slowly. "And pizza sounds great. All I did was hit my head a little. The doctor said I'm fine."

"I believe you." Jake said, rubbing my back and kissing my nose. "I'd be able to see it if you were worse. Really Bells, you scared the life out of me. If anything happened to you..."

"Nothing is going to happen to me." I said with a smile, brushing my nose up against his and leaning to capture his lips in a slow, gentle kiss. It felt good to be close to him, it always did. Rarely did we ever show many public displays of affection, I was quite a private person. But I liked when he'd hold my hand or kiss my head...or when he was close. We didn't do much actual kissing in public though. But at this moment I just wanted to kiss him.

He pulled me up close to his chest, hugging me impossibly tighter against his strong frame. He was quite a bit taller than me which made me lean up on my toes as I pressed into the kiss. I liked how much bigger than me he was. And it seemed like he was growing more and more muscles every day even now.

But I liked his muscles, especially when he choose to work without a shirt on, or when we would go swimming. It was quite distracting. My boyfriend was one handsome man and the fact that he was interested in _me_ still sometimes made me wonder just what was wrong with him.

I didn't feel like the prettiest girl in the world, just average, but with Jake all that changed. Jacob Black always made me feel like I was the only girl in the world. He had a knack for making me feel better looking than I ever thought I was.

I smiled against his lips as I slowly pulled back, placing a small kiss on his bottom lip before I looked up at him meeting his eyes. "So...go get my car and some pizza?"

He swallowed and nodded, brushing his nose with mine. "Thats the plan. I think Charlie's going back on duty after he drops us off at the school...so...we'll have the house to ourselves."

That idea made me blush. Usually whenever we had a house to ourselves we did some...um...things. It usually involved us completely ignoring whatever movie we were watching and teenage hormones going crazy. I smiled a bit and nodded. "Sounds like fun." I said. Could my head take a make-out session with my man? I hoped so.

Slowly I leaned up to brush my lips over his again in just a small kiss before I slid my hands to rest on his sides. "Come on, Charlie's waiting." I said. Though as I leaned back and looked up my eyes were drawn down a hallway. And I froze, my smile melting from my face as my eyes locked with a pair of golden orbs looking at me almost furiously.

Edward Cullen stood there, watching, gaping at us and I swallowed hard. How long had he been watching? Now, it wasn't that I was ashamed of my boyfriend, on the contrary I loved calling him my man. But I just didn't like people watching moments we had together.

"I um...I...I'll meet you outside Jake..." I muttered to Jacob, my eyes still locked on Edwards.

He noticed my discomfort and it made him look up and notice what I was staring at. _Who_ I was staring at. "Who is that?" he asked me in a soft voice.

"It um..." I started, biting my bottom and taking in a breath, shaking my head. I moved back from Jacob and took his hand, squeezing lightly before walking with him towards Edward. Well, I _was_ going to tell him today.

Walking up to Edward, I stopped just in front of him feeling Jacob stop at my side. "Jake...this is Edward Cullen, a friend from school. Edward, this is Jacob Black, my boyfriend." I introduced, looking up into Edwards eyes for a moment before I looked away from their intensity.

"It's nice to meet you. I heard you saved my Bells from what could have been a nasty wreck. I'd like to thank you." Jacob said, offering his hand out to Edward.

Edward looked at Jacobs hand but didn't take it. He just nodded to him, slipping his hands into his own pockets as he looked at Jacob. "It was nothing. Adrenaline. Just trying to help."

"It was amazing." I said slowly, squeezing Jacobs hand and smiling a bit again as I looked at Edward. "I'd be dead if you didn't make it over to me so fast."

Edward shifted under my gaze and nodded. "Ah yeah well...lets not talk about it anymore okay?"

I nodded. "Sure." I said, though I didn't have any intention of just letting it go like he seemed to want me to. I would put the pieces of this puzzle together whether he liked it or not.

"We should be going, Charlie's waiting for us in his cruiser." Jacob said beside me, lightly pulling on my hand before he looked up to Edward. "Thanks again. Good to meet you." he said, though he looked not quite as pleased to meet him as he suggested.

Edward nodded again. "You too.." he said, watching Jacob for a moment before he looked at me. "I'll...see you in school, Bella." he said.

I felt Jacob pull on my hand as he stepped away and I moved to walk with him. Glancing back at Edward before I walked with Jacob out of the hospital and towards Charlie's cruiser. I had no idea how Edward had taken the news, this wasn't exactly how I'd planned to tell him that I wasn't quite single. I wanted to tell him not show him.

Well, the cat was out of the bag now so to speak. I still wasn't ashamed of Jake, but I had to shake off this feeling that I'd done something wrong and I would. And I was sure Jake could help me with that too.

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Charlie had driven us back to Forks High School where Jacob refused to let me drive back to my house in my truck even though I insisted I was fine. Jacob drove my truck back to the house and he even turned the car off quickly to walk around and help me from my seat. And he took my backpack and carried it for me.

I was flattered that he was so concerned about me, but at the same time I was not a child and I almost felt like he was treating me like one.

We walked into the house after I'd opened the front door. I walked over to the couch and took a seat on it. Jacob closed the door and I heard my backpack drop onto the floor probably by the staircase. I felt him plop down on the couch beside me with little to no grace and it made me laugh, looking up at him.

"Nice." I muttered. Shifting as he opened his arm across the back of the couch and moved to cuddle into his side, my head on his shoulder and my arms moving around his waist. Slowly looking up at his face I smiled a bit.

"So. What do you wanna watch?" he asked, reaching for the remote.

But I took his wrist and pulled it back down, shaking my head. "Nothing. Can't we just sit here?"

"Sure." he said, moving his hand that had started to grab the remote and putting it around my waist. Pulling me up closer to him so I was partially sitting on his lap. And so I shifted, I moved to sit fully on his lap, curling against his chest as my head stayed on his shoulder.

I took solace in him, laying quietly against his chest. I could almost fall asleep sitting there. Being close to him had always felt good...would always feel good. Gently my fingers moved along his chest above his shirt as my eyes closed halfway, watching them.

"So, what was up with that Cullen kid?" Jacob asked, surprising me.

"What...what do you mean?" I asked, looking up at him and stilling my fingers on his chest.

He shrugged and rubbed my back slowly. "He sort of...looked at me, like he hated me or something. I don't get why."

"Oh...well, he's like that...sort of. Remember when I told you I met him and he looked at me strangely?"

"Yeah...I think I remember. You said something about how he looked at you like you smelled? Yeah...that did sound weird. But he didn't look like he thought I smelled. Well, I suppose he _did_ sort of, but he looked like he was angry at me or something.."

I shifted up close to him and sighed. "I'm not sure. I think Edward is just...different. Don't mind him." I insisted, rubbing his chest and looking up at his face, smiling a bit. "Don't worry about that okay? We're fine right here."

He nodded slightly, his hand soothing my back up and down as his lips leaned to kiss my temple. "Mmm alright. I think I can...entertain myself." he said with a slight grin.

Looking up at his face I knew what he was thinking and it made me giggle. Actually giggle. I almost couldn't believe the noise myself. Shifting to sit up, straddling his waist and looking at him. "Now, Jacob Black, just what are you thinking?"

After I finished he moved his hands up to my hips, pulling me flush against his chest as he leaned up to kiss me slowly. My eyes drifted closed as I kissed him back. Shifting on his lap, my arms moved around his neck as I kissed him. Tilting my head to one side, kissing him a bit deeper.

As I kissed him deeper his hands started to move up and down my sides, holding me up close to his chest. His hands moved down my sides and grasped my hips, pulling me forward harder, my hips pressing tightly against his. A blush moved over my cheeks as I felt his hardness against my core and I shuddered. It always made me blush when I felt him like that even years after we'd first gotten together.

Shifting to lean back, my lips still touching his as I took in slow breaths. "Jake..." I whispered against his lips, my hands moving to grip his shoulders tightly. His hands left my hips and slowly traced up my sides, his fingertips moving underneath my shirt along my sides just above the hem of my jeans.

His fingers felt warm on my skin and it made me shudder yet again, shifting my body to press up closer to him, as close as I could possibly be. And I didn't want to be anywhere else. All thoughts of anything else were far from my mind and all I could think about was this man underneath me.

Gently I leaned back from his lips, looking down at him as I reached down to pull my shirt up and off, dropping it behind me onto the floor. Looking down, I saw as his eyes took me in like he did every time I'd bare myself to him. I'd see him look over the swell of my small breasts underneath my bra and he had an almost hungry look in his eyes.

"Bells..." he groaned out, his fingers moving to squeeze my hips, holding me tightly against him.

I smiled to him, leaning to kiss his bottom lip slowly and close my eyes. My own hands moved down to his shirt, slowly starting to pull it up. Figuring out what I wanted, he leaned from the kiss and pulled his own shirt up and off.

Our eyes met and he shifted, his hands moving underneath my ass and standing up a bit only to lay me on my back on the couch. Leaning down he began peppering my neck with slow kisses, his tongue darting out over my heated skin as I took in deep, hard breaths. My whole body came alive under his touch as his fingers explored my soft skin.

Of course he knew just about every curve of my body. Those fingers of his did amazing things to me and my thighs gripped his waist at the thought of it. My fingers found his hair as I gripped it, tilting my head back and arching my back up into him.

Every time I wondered if this would be _the time_. But it never was, I always chickened out. I was afraid. At first I'd been afraid that he would leave once he got what he wanted, insecure in myself more-so than anything else. But when he'd stuck around now I was just afraid I wouldn't be good enough for him. After all he was _gorgeous_ and I wasn't. This guy was completely out of my league and I knew it.

My fingers slowly moved down the back of his neck and along his bare back and I let out a shuddering sigh. "Jake..." I muttered.

He shifted from my neck, resting his forearms against the couch by my head. Looking down into my eyes, he brushed his nose against mine and kissed me slowly. "Bells...you know...I won't go any farther than you want me to. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to...but I love you, I would never want you to do something you didn't want to..."

Looking up into his eyes I saw the love lingering there in his brown orbs and my insides melted. I nodded slowly, moving my fingers over his shoulders and down his chest.

"I want to but...not today, okay? I want it to be special, and not on my fathers couch. But...but soon, I promise, okay?"

He smiled at that and nodded. "Anything is okay for you. Hell I'll wait 'till we're married if you _really_ wanted to. Now how many guys do you know that'd say that?"

I giggled a bit, leaning up to kiss his bottom lip. "Not many. You are an enigma. I love you...and...you won't have to wait that long, I promise.." I said slowly. I'd been thinking about being with him like that for a while and I sort of wanted to come up with a plan, the perfect scene. I was never one for romance novels but maybe I could get an idea from the books I liked to read.

"I love you." he responded, leaning to kiss my cheek and along my jawline. Thrusting his hips to grind against me I couldn't help the moan that left my lips and I felt his grin against the skin of my jaw. "And I'm not gunna leave you hanging."

Shifting his weight one hand moved down to undo my jeans. His fingers traveled underneath my jeans and panties and I stiffened for a moment. His eyes searched mine and I nodded before he continued to move his fingers.

I felt my eyelids become heavy as his fingers grazed along my panty line. Leaning up I kissed his bottom lip, my hands moving down to his belt and starting to undo his pants. His body pressed up close to mine and he kissed me fully as his fingers moved underneath my underwear.

A muffled moan left my lips as I felt his fingers on the most intimate part of me, stroking the sensitive skin so slowly it made me wiggle a bit against him. I broke the kiss, tilting my head back as I felt his lips start to trail down the side of my neck, licking and nipping at my skin here and there. He was always careful not to leave a mark where anyone could readily see.

My teeth chewed at my bottom lip as my hand slid into his pants as well, feeling him ready against my fingers. He was so big and I now knew that wasn't that common. The first time I'd seen him like that I'd been worried at his size. It still worried me, it made me wonder if it'd hurt when we finally did have sex. But I trusted Jacob, I would always trust him.

He was the only boy I'd ever been with so closely. I knew him better than I knew myself. Sure we'd broken up twice since we started dating almost three years ago and had broken up once a little more than a year ago. That'd been a horrible time in my life, I never knew I could feel so upset. I never knew there was a hole in my chest that ached and withered without my sun close by. It was a physical pain that ached through me those couple of weeks we had broken up.

I'd gone on a date with another guy to make Jacob upset at that point. But that guy I hadn't even kissed the guy I'd been with. I couldn't. It'd be wrong to kiss another guy when this hole was in my chest at Jacobs absence. Without him I couldn't survive I knew that.

Leaning close to him as my hand moved to run over the length of him. We'd obviously gone through a period of time where we had experimented. I knew just how to move my fingers to make him gasp and moan against my skin, and he knew just how to elicit the same responses from my body.

My eyes closed tighter as I felt his lips at the tops of my breasts, his teeth playfully nibbling on my flesh. His free hand moved to unhook my bra and I felt it fall loose on me. Though I didn't take it off, I let it fall looser and his lips kissed the inner side of my left breast. Shuddering I let out a louder moan as I felt the suction of his lips, he was going to leave a hickey. I'd give him a hard time about that later, but he seemed to absolutely love leaving small marks on me that no one else but him would see.

I felt two of his fingers slowly press inside me and it made me chew my lip tighter as my head tilted back against the couch a bit more. My hand moved a bit faster on the length of him as my other hand moved to push his pants down his waist a bit so I completely freed him from his jeans. We were at my house so...I could change, he could not.

Swallowing thickly I opened my eyes halfway to look down at him, amazed at the size of him just like I always was. My fingers moved up and down him as I let my eyes close once I saw him move up to kiss me again.

With all the feelings he was giving me it didn't take me long to come undone at his fingers. I let out a louder moan and broke the kiss, tilting my head back as my hand stilled momentarily against the length of him. I knew he was watching me through half-lidded eyes. He'd once told me that he liked to watch my face during these times and know it was because of him.

My body shuddered as my thighs gripped his waist for a moment, my back arching up to him. It just felt so...good. I'd never felt such intense pleasure before I'd started being more intimate with Jake. And he was patient as I rode out my high, his fingers moving inside me just slowly and making me gasp a bit.

"Jakee.." I moaned slowly, his name leaving my lips like a prayer.

It took a moment for me to slowly come down from that high, my back lowering down onto the couch and breathing hard. It was then that I remembered he wasn't done. So I begun moving my hand again. Opening my eyes halfway I looked up at him just in time to watch his eyes close at the feeling of my fingers.

My hand moved slowly, my fingers brushing over the most sensitive spot on his body. Leaning up I trailed my lips over his ear, nipping at it and starting to kiss along his neck. And I could feel when he fell over the edge, his body shuddering and his length pulsing in my fingers. I blushed once again as I felt his substance spill out and over my stomach as he let out a loud moan through slightly gritted teeth.

Gently my hand moved back and forth, brushing over the tip as I held him while he slowly breathed against me. Relaxing against me I could feel that he could barely hold his own weight up and off me and it made me smile knowing that I affected him this way.

Leaning back I looked up at him, my eyes meeting his and gave him a smile. My nose brushed against his as my eyes closed halfway.

"G-Gods Bells...that was great." he said, smiling a little back at me before he kissed my nose. Looking down he coughed a bit. "Oh...oh I'm sorry.."

It took me a moment to realize what he was apologizing for. Looking down I was reminded of the substance covering my lower belly and I shook my head. "It's fine Jake, you know that." I said. Smiling a bit as I leaned close to him, resting my head on his shoulder and relishing in the afterglow.

"Jake..." I said slowly, and when he just asked 'hmm?' I smiled lazily. "I love you."

"Love you too Bells. Always."

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One weekend a couple of weeks after the near accident I decided to take Alice up on a shopping trip she always attempted to talk me into. I asked Jessica and Angela to go with us and Jacob was going to meet us in town to have lunch. Apparently Jasper would meet up with us too. It was rare to see Alice without Jasper, it was like they were attached at the hip. He looked so protective over the small girl and part of me thought it was cute. The other part thought it was sort of creepy.

And since we were making a group thing out of it Jessica and Angela had invited Eric and Mike to join us for dinner and we all were probably going to a movie afterwards. Great, a movie with Mike Newton. Not.

When Saturday rolled around Alice had elected to pick me up in her car since mine definitely wasn't fuel efficient enough to make it to Port Angeles. I loved my truck but hated it at the same time. I didn't know why but I immediately genuinely liked Alice.

The drive to Port Angeles was pleasant, us both discussing different things. Alice had asked about the shops in town and I was telling her what I knew, but I knew Lauren and Angela would be better at that. I'd never been one for shopping. Even now I was dreading it. And part of me wondered why Alice wanted to go shopping with _us_. After all it seemed like her family had the best of everything. All of their clothes seemed designer, especially Alice's.

We parked and met up with Jessica and Angela and began heading towards the mall. Jessica was giving Alice sideways glances as we walked, everyone at our table knew that Jessica thought Alice was just plain weird. But I didn't care, I wanted Alice there.

It was shopping as usual and we were walking towards another store when Alice paused. Her face got this glazed over look that she'd get in class sometimes and it made me pause. Looking back at her, I moved to step back towards her. "Alice?" I asked, resting one hand on her shoulder slowly.

When I touched her she jumped, making me let go and tilt my head to one side. She blinked up at me with those golden eyes of hers and shook her head. "I'm fine. I uh, I wanted to go to this one store. You want to come with me Bella?"

Part of me knew she was just inviting me and not Jessica and Angela. I nodded, glancing at the two of them. "We'll meet you in the music store." I said and they both nodded.

Alice and I walked off towards another store and I looked up at her slowly. "Is everything okay Alice? What happened there?"

"It was nothing I was just...daydreaming." she said slowly and gave me a smile. "So, I hear you have a boyfriend." she said, making me blush.

Though I nodded a bit. "Yeah...his name is Jacob Black."

"Is he older? I haven't seen him in school."

"No, he's younger actually by a few months. We've known each other since we were kids. His father is my dads best friend and they hang out all the time."

"Oh thats so sweet." Alice gushed, holding a bag she'd gotten from the last store in both hands, swinging it a bit. "How did you two start datinggg?"

I blushed. I didn't talk about my relationship much. "Well uh...it was at a bonfire on the beach one day at La Push. He told me he liked me and I liked him and it just sort of...happened." I said slowly, glancing towards her and then looking forward. "So...what about you? Are you and Jasper a...thing?" I asked. So I normally wouldn't want to pry, but I did sort of want to know.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes. He's my everything." she stated dreamily and I just wondered how she knew that. Then again, I knew that Jacob was my everything too, he was my sun after all. And she had a faraway look that had nothing to do with the daydreaming she'd apparently done earlier.

"I guess you two met through your dad?"

"Oh no I found Jasper before I found Carlisle." she said with a smile. "We met in a diner in Philadelphia. He's from the south, from Texas. He had a...rough upbringing." she said, glancing towards me before looking forward. Part of me knew that she was leaving quite a bit out. Just how did two teenagers meet in a diner in Philadelphia and end up being adopted by a doctor and his wife?

"That sounds nice. Lucky the doctor adopted you two."

Her head looked up for a moment, seeming to think before she nodded and smiled. "Yes, Carlisle is a wonderful father. We couldn't ask for a better set of parents. Esme, our mother, is so sweet. She is a great mom. Jasper was hesitant at the beginning, he was practically on his own for a while. His um...his mother was...abusive." she said, seeming to pick her words carefully. "I love my Jasper though. He'll meet us here for dinner. Our brother Emmett is going to drop him off, he has something to do out here anyway."

I nodded as we walked slowly through the mall. "Thats...kind of sweet." I admitted. Though her story sounded odd, but I wouldn't question her on it.

We walked until we reached a store, and to my horror it was a Victorias Secret. A blush spread over my cheeks as Alice walked me inside, smiling happily. "I'm _so_ glad I have someone other than Rosalie to go to these with me. I mean, Jasper would go if I asked him but he's just all around uncomfortable shopping in stores like this. He's...old fashioned in a way. Anddd since you're in a relationship too it might be fun."

My face was scarlet red as I hesitantly walked in with her. I'd never thought about buying fancy underwear before. Sure Jacob and I were intimate...sort of. But we hadn't progressed to that point. Jake was the most understanding guy I knew, and whenever I asked him to stop he did.

"Oh, did I presume too much?" Alice asked, looking up at me hopefully.

"No...yes...no.." I started, not quite knowing what to say as I sigh. "Jake and I haven't...actually...been together yet. I mean, we've...done stuff, but not the...buy sexy underwear for him kind of stuff." I said, my eyes glued to the floor. Instantly my mind reminded me of the day of the almost crash. The way Jacob had touched me, how I'd wanted him so badly. But I remembered how I'd told him I wanted it to be special and not a quickie on the couch. After all how many times did a girl lose her virginity? Perhaps it'd be a good idea to buy some things with Alice.

She watched me for a moment and shrugged. "Lets look at things anyway huh? It'll be fun." she said, taking my hand and tugging me inside.

I walked through the store, barely looking at anything as Alice dragged me behind her. She picked up some things, looking at them and making a small pile of things she wanted. For a while she pretty much ignored me, offhandedly asking me what I thought of various pieces of lacey fabric. To me it was all too skimpy though. I wasn't sure I would be confident enough to wear something like these, especially in front of Jacob.

Though part of me was intrigued now. Would Jacob like something like this? If I bought some nice underwear for him? We'd been together for a while and he'd seen my plain cotton bra and panties more than a couple of times over the years and he didn't seem to even care. So what would make him care about these things?

I shifted uncomfortably, looking up at Alice. "Alice..?"

"Hm?" she asked in a distracted voice as she looked at something.

"Do um...do guys really...like this kind of stuff?" I asked, embarrassed. This was almost worse than asking Renee for a bra for the first time. My mom didn't live with me and the girl friends I had I'd never felt this comfortable around. But something told me I could talk to Alice and she wouldn't judge me, that she'd accept me and wouldn't make fun of it.

My question caused her to look up at me and smile, nodding. "Oh yes. Some might say they don't until they see you in it. Rosalie is the absolute _worst_. Emmett always rips hers and she always needs more, but she's the...order it from Paris kind of girl. Granted, I like my Paris lingerie too, but I like these. Why? Do you want to find something to wear for your guy?"

"So...so you and Jasper have...?"

She nodded. "Of course."

"And your parents don't mind?"

"Well...no I suppose not." she said, looking up at me slowly. "I mean, well, I mean they trust us to make smart decisions. They gave us a good home and we know our boundaries." she said, thinking for a moment. "Oh! I know all about birth control and everything. We're good." she said with a smile.

I thought about that for a moment. Even though I did know all about birth control I was pretty sure Charlie would freak if he ever actively knew Jacob and I were intimate. Sure he probably had suspicions, but that was very different from knowing.

"So, do you want help picking some things out?" she asked.

And I nodded. "Yeah...please?"

"Sure!" she said happily and began looking through the racks of lace. "We don't have to start you off with full blown lingerie. How about just some nice, special bra and panty sets?" she suggested.

"I guess. I've never done this before so...I'll trust your judgement."

Maybe that was a mistake. Because we spent the next half an hour picking things out, Alice holding things up for me to see and walking through the store. I ended up getting a few bra and panty sets, panties in different styles than I was used to. I was sure my underwear drawer had never had so much lace and silk in it before today.

In all reality I wasn't sure if I would ever wear these things for Jacob, but now I had some things and I had options. We had gotten plenty in a forest green color since I'd told Alice that was Jacobs favorite color. All in all it was fun but I was still a bit embarrassed. At least I had them now just in case I wanted to use them.

After the lingerie shopping we'd gone to the music store and met up with Jessica and Angela. And then it was time to meet up with the boys at the restaurant. Eric was already there waiting for us and he hugged Angela lightly before saying hello to us. Jacob was driving his dads car so I'd go home with him so Jasper could just go home with Alice. When I saw Billy Blacks truck pull up to the small restaurant I nearly beamed.

Jacob parked the truck and hopped out, striding over to us. Jessica and Angela both looked up at him but he came right to me and pulled me into an impossibly tight hug. I laughed a bit, resting my free hand on his side, my other hand filled with a few bags.

"Nice to see you too Jake. Miss me?"

"Impossibly much." he said as he kissed the rim of my ear slowly.

I smiled and leaned back, offering him up my bags. "Want to go put these in your truck for me?"

"Sure!" he said, taking the bags quickly back over to the truck.

In an instant Jacob was back at my side and I smiled. Looking up to Alice slowly. "Alice, this is Jacob Black. Jake, this is Alice Cullen, my friend from school."

She looked at him warily before she nodded and gave him a hesitant smile. "Nice to meet you Jacob."

"You too, Alice." he said as his arm moved around my shoulders, hugging me close to his strong side. "I'm _starving._ "

I couldn't help but laugh and smack his stomach. "You're always starving."

"True."

"We have to wait for Jasper though. Alice's um..." I started, glancing towards Alice.

Luckily she finished for me. "Boyfriend." she said with a smile.

Good, I wasn't sure what to classify them as. We stood and waited, but no other cars pulled up. Though when I looked up I saw Jasper walking down the street towards us with his hands tucked firmly in his pockets, looking pained as always. He walked up to us and instantly was at Alice's side, his hand moving to twine their fingers as she leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the lips.

Yeah, they were way too cute.

"Jake, this is Jasper. Jasper this is my boyfriend Jacob." I introduced, looking up at him a bit. He was so darn tall.

But he only nodded in my direction. I rarely ever heard his voice, he always seemed to be clamping his jaw shut. Sometimes I wonder if he even actually breathed. He always looked so uncomfortable in every situation. I couldn't imagine such a closed off person being with a girl like Alice. But I suppose she knew him better, maybe he relaxed when he wasn't in the presence of others.

Jacob nodded back to Jasper and smiled. "Nice to meet you. Can we go eat now?"

Again I smacked his stomach with a laugh. "Jake! Stop being rude. Besides we're still waiting on Mike."

"Oh great Marshmallow's gunna be here?" Jacob said with a roll of his eyes.

I knew that Jacob didn't like Mike. Every time we all hung out Mike would attempt to hit on me in front of Jacob, infuriating him to no ends. The day he'd come up with that nickname for Mike we'd been on a group outing. Mike had thrown up at the movies and it made Jacob laugh. I pat his side and kissed his cheek. "It'll be fine Jake."

Finally we all saw Mikes car park and he got out and came up to us, muttering his hellos. He'd smiled at me a big loner than necessary, which made Jake hug me closer to his side.

"Come now since everyone is here lets go on inside." Alice said. When she moved to step towards the restaurant Jasper didn't move. She stopped and turned to look at him curiously and smiled. Leaning up close to him, she kissed his cheek. "You'll be fine Jazz." she whispered quietly against his ear, almost so I couldn't hear it.

He only nodded and walked in with her with us following them. Jasper kept giving Jacob odd glances as he pulled Alice in closer to his side. I wasn't quite sure what that was about...could he really be strangely territorial when it came to Alice? Though that look didn't look like a jealous type...it almost looked as though he saw Jacob as a threat on a more basic level than a romantic level. Like he thought Jacob would attack Alice at a moments notice and he had to be ready to defend her.

But I shrugged it off and walked inside with them. We got a table for eight, we were rather a large group together. But it was turning out to be fun, I'd been enjoying my shopping trip with the girls and now we'd have dinner and then go see a movie.

We were all seated and everyone ordered their food. Every time I ate with him I was always amazed at how much my Jacob could eat. He sometimes seemed like a bottomless pit and I'd just smile and chuckle while I watched him inhale his food. At least I knew how to cook.

As usual Jessica took up most of the chatter, going on about different things she'd gotten at different stores. I smiled when I felt one of Jakes hands on my thighs, glancing over at him as we ate. The only ones who merely picked at their food was Alice and Jasper. I noticed at lunch how they'd only pick at their food, sometimes taking a stray bite and it only added to the mystery that was the Cullens.

Jasper also spent most of the dinner shooting glances towards Jacob while he held his arm wrapped around Alice protectively. I wondered what he was doing, why he was watching him like that. But I didn't get it, guys could be so strange sometimes and it seemed like the Cullen boys were even stranger.

Dinner didn't take that long, the nice little restaurant had good food and I was enjoying the company. For once Mike didn't spend the entire dinner hitting on me. Probably because he was sat next to Jessica.

My luck couldn't hold out though because as we were walking out for the moment Jacob wasn't with me Mike had come up behind me. He slid one arm over my shoulders and smiled. "Hey Bella. Excited to see the movie? Maybe we can go next weekend to movie and a dinner...you know...just the two of us?"

I rolled my eyes as I looked up at him. Of course Jacob had gone off to the bathroom and Jessica was busy talking to Angela as we all stood outside the restaurant waiting for the few of us that had gone to the bathroom. "I'm with Jake. This has to stop.."

Over and over I'd told him that I wasn't interested, I wanted to let him down gently. After all I still did want him as a friend. Turning to look up at him I shifted out of his arm and sighed. "Please Mike. We're friends."

He moved his hands back and tucked them into his pockets, rocking on his heels as he looked up at me. "Yeah but...I've always wanted to be more. Can't we just try?"

"It won't work..." I said, looking up at him as I shifted on my feet. "I love Jacob. I learned a while ago that wouldn't change. What needs to change is this. You have to stop asking me. Especially with Jake so close. I really don't want him to lose his temper."

"I just want a chance.." he started.

But I interrupted. "There is no chance. Come on Mike lets not make this awkward. Please stop. Before Jake gets back."

"And what does Mike need to stop before Jake gets back?" I heard his voice say. Glancing back I saw Jacob standing behind me, his arm moving possessively around my waist, pulling me back into his chest as his eyes glared at Mike overtop of me.

Mike looked up at Jacob and stiffened. It was no secret that Mike wasn't one for a fight, but I knew Jake wouldn't hesitate to put him in his place as he'd call it.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing I was just telling Bella that I'm excited for the movie tonight." Mike responded hesitantly, shifting back away from us and nodding. "So um...I'm having fun. Yeah, I hope you are too."

"Yeah we are." I said, resting my hands on Jacobs hands, smiling to Mike. At least he knew better than to antagonize Jake right now. "Lets all head to the movie." I suggested, leaning from Jacobs chest and moving to take his hand, squeezing it lightly before I began walking with him and the rest of the group towards the movie theater.

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The movie had been fun, I enjoyed spending time with my friends. I rode home with Jacob in his car in high spirits. Mike hadn't hit on me anymore and I was amazed I actually had fun shopping of all things.

When Jake pulled up outside my house and put the car into park I unbuckled my seatbelt and shifted to look at him, smiling. "I had fun. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You can count on it. Come on I'll walk you to the door." he offered as he unbuckled himself and slid out of his seat. Before I could stop him he picked up my bags from the back seat too. Walking around to my side, he opened the door and took my hand in his free one.

We walked up to the front door of my house quietly, stopping just at the door and I smiled, looking up at him. "Thanks for coming with us."

"No problem. It's fun hanging out with the pale faces every now and then."

I laughed at him, shaking my head and leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Yeah I guess it is sometimes. But we're going down to the beach tomorrow with the guys right?"

"Yeah thats the plan...I guess" he said slowly, shifting a bit uncomfortably. He sat my bags down on the chair on the porch and moved his hands into his pockets, looking down. Something was wrong, something he hadn't shown until now.

I reached out to take ahold of his belt lightly, bringing him closer and looking up at him. "Whats the matter?"

He looked up and met my eyes with a seriousness that I rarely saw in my sunny boyfriend and it worried me. "Well...well Embry won't be there. Quil will, so it'll be the three of us instead of the four..."

"Why? Whats happened to Embry?"

"Well...Embry he's got new friends..."

An eyebrow raised at him as I studied his face. "New friends?"

"Yeah. Sam, Paul, Jared and a couple others...he's hanging out with that crew now."

I tried to remember who Sam was, I'd heard that name before. I'd heard that name when Paul and Jared had started hanging out with him. "Didn't you call him and his friends a gang?" I asked, my fingers still in his belt as my thumbs moved over the skin of his abdomen.

"I guess we did. Embry's with them now so I guess he won't be there tomorrow. He's different too, just like Sam's gang. I don't like it..." he said slowly with a shrug. "And now Sam just keeps looking at me and Quil, it's like we'll be next or something.."

I leaned to kiss him lightly to stop him before shaking my head. "Don't you worry about them. You won't be next and hopefully neither will Quil. I wonder whats going on with them...maybe we should tell Charlie about them?"

"No, I told my dad and he doesn't seem to find it something to worry about. Maybe it's nothing. It'll be fine." he said. Taking his hands from his pockets he rest them on my hips, kissing my forehead slowly. "If something does happen to me though...just know that this won't change. My feelings for you won't change. Ever. I promise."

His words made me smile and nod a little. "Good. So tomorrow? I'll meet you at your house around lunch time." I said, leaning to kiss him slowly before I stepped back from him fully. Picking up my bags I walked inside, glancing back at Jake as I closed the door.

Once the door was closed I glanced out the window, watching as he walked back towards his truck to head home. Now I was mildly worried about him and what he'd said. Surely he wouldn't fall victim to Sam's gang too, right?

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A/N: Chapter = Fin. Hopefully you like it! I know I'm skipping a lot of stuff in Twilight, but like I said this will be different with a few of the same events {like the car accident and what not.}

As always, pleaseeee read and review! I love seeing reviews that let me know what people think! I'll get started on the next chapter to hopefully get up soon too.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello All! Welcome to chapter 3! I think I outdid myself in getting this chapter out quite quickly, haha!

To respond to a few reviews:

dvsdomingue: Haha no offense taken! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And I did write that scene hoping for a bit of a giggle, I laughed just thinking about writing that scene.

sarahmicaela88: Yup, Jake phasing will happen sooner in here because in my fic he's a bit older, and a fact that I'm skipping a lot of Twilight main story plot scenes as well. A lot of the events in the movies will meld together quite differently.

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Chapter 3:

Bella's POV

I was increasingly worried about Jake and his friends. Quil seemed slightly upset at Embry too, though he didn't talk about it. Usually as a general rule guys don't talk about their feelings. Granted I wasn't one to talk much about such things either. And it all made me wonder what exactly was going on with Sam and his gang. I'd always seen them in passing but now when I looked towards them I'd see Embry.

And Embry looked so... _different_. He was more muscular now and had cut his hair short like the rest of them. And he walked around with just shorts on most of the time which was odd. Then again I'd never really paid attention to how muscular Embry was or wasn't.

But now that Embry was part of their gang I paid more attention to it. I wanted to see for myself what Jake was talking about. And while I didn't live on the reservation or go to school there I did spend a lot of time there. Whenever I did see Sam he'd give Jake a look that almost made me uncomfortable. Something was going on.

Then again something was still going on with the Cullens that I couldn't figure out and it was driving me nuts. Edward hadn't quite acted the same around me since he'd seen me with Jacob in the hospital. He was more distant. Not that it should have bothered me - he wasn't my boyfriend - but he was my friend.

One night I was sitting in my bedroom working on some homework and doing various things. I sent Renee an email about what was going on. Email was something that Renee loved, she'd email me a lot and I'd email her back. She enjoyed my replies.

I sat at my desk in my pajamas, one leg folded underneath me as I finished my English paper and sat back, thinking. I felt like I knew the answer that I sought somewhere in my mind. I felt like I should know.

Shifting on my seat I looked up, looking up at my bookshelf. One of the books sitting there stuck out to me and I shifted, reaching up to take one of the books and sitting back in my seat. The cover was blue and had a native american on it. I'd gotten it years ago at a book store in Port Angeles because I'd seen Jake's tribe name on it: Quileute. It was a book of the legends of the Quileute.

Now I'd heard these stories before probably a couple hundred times that I rarely ever cracked the book. Jacob had taken a look and had said it seemed pretty accurate from what he'd always grown up with, with small changes here and there. Then again there were always small changes between the oral myth and the written down myth.

I ran my fingers over the cover of the book before opening it, looking down at the text. At first my eyes scrolled through the index before my fingers flipped the pages. I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for but I knew I'd know it when I saw it.

Eventually I stopped on a page of a picture of a carving. My fingers moved over the picture as I saw the words 'THE COLD ONE' written underneath it and I attempted to scramble up the memory of the story.

Of course I'd heard the stories of the Cold Ones. It was a story about a tribe of these creatures that fed on human blood. Billy Black had told it to me when I was just a little girl, telling me that the tribe was special in that they were the defenders of humans especially against these cold ones.

Sitting up in my seat I read over the legend again even though I knew it, to refresh my memory. I lined up the things from the legend that I knew from the Cullens.

Severely cold skin.

Strange eyes that changed color when they fed.

Super speed.

Super strength.

Speaking as though they were from a different era all together.

I sat up straighter as I shook my head. "Couldn't be..." I muttered. Resting the book on the desk and pulling up my computer again, quickly googling the words 'The Cold One'. I scanned through different articles online about myths all around the globe of these creatures. We knew them in our horror movies as Vampires.

Swallowing thickly after several minutes of searching on the internet, I slumped back in my seat, looking up at the screen. The image of the quileute cold one carving on my screen and I looked at it. Could it be possible? Could Edward be a vampire? Could _Alice_?

Thoughts raced through my mind as I thought about everything, about the correlation's between the stories. Could the legend be true? I wasn't sure and part of me wanted to call Jake. Another part of me wanted to forget this nonsense, vampires couldn't be real. And a third part of me wanted to confront Edward and ask him outrightly. But would he actually answer my questions? I know if I were a centuries old vampire I wouldn't come out and tell people.

Unless I planned on killing them.

My breath caught in my throat until I reached to close the book and also closed the window on my computer. It had to be impossible. Closing the laptops lid before I moved to stand up, walking to sit on my bed. Of course it was impossible. Things like that just did not exist, we would know about it.

But what if we _did_ know? What if we did know and were warned but it was so astonishing of an idea that people didn't believe them? That it was chalked up to myth and legend, ghost stories to tell children amongst a campfire.

Impossible thoughts flitted through my head. Thoughts about the legends I'd heard amongst the quileute's as I grew up and I wondered just how much of it was myth and how much of it was actually truth. Could the impossible actually be possible?

I guess it wasn't quite as farfetched as I thought. I mean things that exist today would have seemed impossible to ancient people.

I sighed heavily as I laid back on my bed, looking up at the ceiling through half closed eyes. I would ask Edward about it at school tomorrow, given that he was actually there that is. He had a tendency not to show up for school sometimes along with his siblings. Sometimes just two of them would be missing, but on sunny days it seems they all would be out of class.

That night I didn't sleep that well, I had a restless sleep that made me shift and toss and turn in my bed. I had dreams that night...well, nightmares more like it. Nightmares of the Dracula kind, images of Edward and his teeth sinking into my flesh to drain me of my life force. It wasn't the kind of nightmares where I'd wake up screaming. No, oddly I'd just wake up in a cold sweat breathing hard as my heart thumped roughly in my chest.

And in the morning I decided I was definitely going to get to the bottom of it. I had to confront him.

I went along my morning routine like normal, seeming to go through the motions as I made breakfast, ate and packed my things for school.

It didn't take long to get to school even in my old truck. But I was a bit early and I parked in a spot and waited, my eyes glancing around the parking lot anxiously as I waited for the Cullens arrival.

Finally I saw that silver volvo pull into the lot and park in its usual spot. Quickly I moved out of my truck and approached the car in time for Edward to step out. Looking up at him, I swallowed a bit. "Can I...can we talk?" I asked. Glancing around I nodded and waved a bit to Alice before looking back up at Edward.

His brow furrowed as he looked at me before he nodded. "Yeah sure.." he said, waving off his family before he walked with me a bit away from them towards a more private part of the parking lot where others weren't lingering.

But I kept walking, leading him into the forest by the school as I thought of how to phrase what I wanted to say. Of course my thoughts were all jumbled now that I knew what he was and what I wanted to ask him. I'd been rehearsing this all morning but somehow I couldn't make my ideas come out of my mouth.

Slowly I came to a stop amongst the trees, taking in a deep breath. The smells of the forest always smelled like home to me, a comfortable place since I'd practically grown up in La Push. I spent many times in my life in the woods or just near them at the beach. Everything in this town was enveloped by woods.

I took in a deep breath as I braced myself. "You're impossibly fast...and strong. Your skin is...pale white..and ice cold. Your eyes change color. And sometimes you speak like you're from a different time. You never eat or drink anything, never go out into the sunlight. How...how old are you?"

"Seventeen." he said, his voice right behind me causing me to shudder just a bit.

"How long have you been seventeen?"

"A while..."

I took in slow breaths, swallowing as realization dawned on me. I was right. "I...know what you are."

"Say it. Out loud." he insisted from behind me, feeling him step a bit closer. "Say it."

"Vampire." I muttered in a small voice.

"Are you afraid?"

At first I wasn't sure how to answer that. Yes and no I'd suppose. And then I decided. Turning to look up at him I shook my head a little. "No."

"Then ask me the most basic question. What do I eat?" he asked as he looked down at me intensely almost predatorily.

And for a moment I didn't want to know. I'd read online and I'd seen movies. I knew that vampires drank blood and part of that made my pulse quicken. But I shook my head again. "You won't hurt me." I insisted.

His hand reached out to grab my arm almost painfully as he tugged me along with him through the woods. I looked up at him curiously. "Where are we going?"

"You need to see what I am. You have to see what I look like in the sunlight." he insisted. Before I could protest I was pulled up onto his back with a small yelp, my arms gripping him as he took off running.

And boy could he _run._ We were whipping through the woods at a breakneck speed. So fast that I hid my face against the back of his neck and gripped him as not to become disoriented. He ran so fast, I'd never seen anything move that fast much less felt it. It almost made my stomach turn.

And before I knew it we were there, stopping. He put me down and I braced myself against a tree as I looked up at him curiously. We were at the top of the mountain, a bit out of the cloud cover and I could see the sun streaming through the trees.

I watched in fascination as I saw Edward walk towards the stream of light. Part of me wanted to tell him not to. Everything I knew about vampires stated that they couldn't go out into the sunlight, that they'd burn to death. But he was actually a vampire and I'd assume he wouldn't go into the sun if it'd hurt him. After all who would be that suicidal?

Leaning against one tree I watched as he unbuttoned his shirt and stepped into the sun. But he didn't burst into flames, there were no screams of pain as he stood there and slowly turned towards me. Instead his skin sparkled like millions of tiny diamonds were set into his pale flesh. The naked strip of his chest sparkled where his shirt was unbuttoned and my eyes moved up it and towards his face, a look of disgust marring his features.

"Wow..it...it's beautiful.." I said slowly, my fingers holding onto the tree. And it was. He wasn't beautiful like I thought Jake was, but in a different way. Part of me was attracted to him and that thought made me blush.

"This is the skin of a killer, Bella." he said as he begun moving out of the sunlight, shaking his head. "I'm a killer Bella.." he insisted as he walked past me and back into the cover of the trees.

I shook my head, slowly moving to follow him, my hands bracing on the trees. "I don't believe that.."

"It's true. I've killed people. Are you scared now?" he asked, stepping up to me in an intimidating fashion. But I found that I wasn't scared, I knew this man, we'd talked in class.

"No, you're my friend..."

"Friend..." he snickered, shaking his head. Before I knew it he was up close to me and I backed up against a tree, looking up into his golden eyes. "I'm a predator, Bella. Everything about me draws you in. My voice, my looks, even my smell. As if I'd need any of that. As if you could run, or fight me off." he said, stepping against me so he almost was pressed up against my chest, making me blush.

But I just shook my head again, I wouldn't be intimidated. "We're friends. You won't hurt me. I know it."

His hands moved up to rest on the trees on either side of my head, staring down at me intensely. "I don't just want to be your friend. I feel very...protective of you. I'm drawn to you like a moth to the flame. Your scent is like a drug to me...my own personal brand of heroin. You have no idea how much I wanted to rip that...mans head off. That man you were with in the hospital..."

"Jacob?" I asked, attempting not to be intimidated still as his hands enclosed me in, my back pressed against the tree.

A low growl rumbled in his throat and he nodded. "Yes. The...the mutt. I could smell him, I could _hear_ him. The things he was _thinking_."

My brow furrowed as I tilted my head to one side. "He's my boyfriend. And what do you mean the things he was thinking? You can hear what he was thinking?"

"I can read everyones thoughts...save for one. Yours. I look at other people and hear what is in their mind. But with you theres...theres nothing. Just...silence. It's quite frustrating."

"So you can read minds? Can all vampires do that?" I asked curiously before I thought about it. "Wait...is there something wrong with me?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No, not everyone. Some vampires have talents and most of them differ. I can read minds, Alice can see the future, Jasper can sense emotions..." he explained in a soft voice. "Nothing is wrong with you. Nothing at all."

"The future? She can see the future?" I asked curiously, leaning back against the tree a bit more.

"She can." he said, pushing up from me and reaching to take my hand. Slowly he led me down a path and towards a small stream that moved through the woods. He led me towards a set of rocks, holding my hand steadily and we moved to take a seat on them. "Her visions aren't always perfect, there are spots. The future is an ever changing thing.."

"Did she see me coming?"

His face crunched a bit and shrugged. "Yes and no. Her visions of you are..blurred. She doesn't understand it, we all don't. My family is different from others of our kind. We've chosen not to feed on humans, to live amongst them. We move around...a lot. And since Alice joined our family we know people think she's strange. I'm glad she made a friend in you, she enjoys your company."

"I enjoy her company too. She's really nice." I said, thinking about my newest friend. Alice and I had become quick friends, and not once did I feel threatened by her. Looking up at him, I moved to sit with my legs folded, my hands resting on my ankles. "Did Carlisle...make all of you?"

"Not all of us. I was the first he turned. I was dying of Spanish Influenza and he turned me. Carlisle is much older though, he'd lived in Europe and came over here to the states. He has...much more control than any of the rest of us. And then years later he found his wife Esme, and then Rosalie. And Rosalie found Emmett. The only ones that Carlisle did not make were Alice and Jasper, they found us."

It felt good to talk openly with Edward, it was like we didn't have anymore secrets. But part of me knew that he felt differently than me, that he saw this as something more than what I did. I wasn't going to leave Jacob. "You know...I'm not going to tell anyone.." I said, looking up at him. "It's not my secret to tell."

He flashed me a smile and a small nod. "We do appreciate that. I like living here. We come back every now and then. We have a few places that we move between. Sometimes we pick a new town. The younger we pretend to be the longer we get to stay in one place. It gives us a sense of normalcy."

"So you've been to Forks before..?"

"Mmhm, once before. Years ago, before Alice and Jasper joined us."

And I wondered if they'd been here when the Quileute's encountered the Cold Ones of the legends. Had Edward known them? The Cold Ones that killed people in the village? I hated to think that those two in the story had been part of Edwards family.

"You have to tell me what you're thinking.." Edward said after a while of silence and I looked up at him, confused for a moment.

Then I remembered, he couldn't read my mind. I smiled a bit and shook my head. "I like having private thoughts." I said as I slowly moved to stand up, taking a few steps away from him and towards the stream, listening to the water moving over the rocks slowly. I pushed my hands into my back pockets and looked out over it, watching the water glisten in the light.

"Its very...frustrating, not hearing your thoughts." I heard him say from his place on the rock behind me. Part of me knew though that if I slipped he'd still be able to catch me.

I shrugged. "Just...things. You know they have legends of your kind in the Quileute tribe. They call you the Cold Ones. I always thought it was just a ghost story to scare little kids around the campfire."

"You spend a lot of time on La Push don't you?"

"I do. I've spent my life there.." I said, looking down at my feet and sighing a bit. "I like you. I like talking to you ya know. Spending time with you. But...but we're just friends. I'm in love with my boyfriend, Jacob. We've been together for years, I've known him my whole life. I've always planned on spending my life with him on La Push..."

I nearly jumped when I felt him behind me, his hands moving to rest on my arms as he lightly squeezed them. "I want to be more than your friend though...even though I know I shouldn't."

"Yes but right now I can only do friends. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do more. I won't hurt Jake. I refuse. He's my life. I tried life without him once, we'd broken up over something stupid once. And there was this...this hole in my chest. A physical hole, I could barely function without him.." I said slowly, but a small smile moved over my lips as I watched the rippling water. "What is the Earth to do without her Sun, after all?"

We stood silent for a moment before I turned my head up to look up at him. "Please...I just want to be friends. I won't even tell Jake your secret, okay? Your secret is safe with me. Your my friend, Alice is my friend."

Slowly he nodded, loosening his grip on my arms and rubbing them lightly. "If thats what you want. I cannot protect you on La Push though.."

I laughed. "I'm perfectly safe on La Push. This is Forks.."

"Yes with a family of vampires living here. And now that you know about us...you realize the world is more dangerous than most think."

I rolled my eyes and stepped away from him slightly. "I'll be fine. But...why can't you go to La Push?"

"We just...can't. Not my secrets to tell." he said. Leaning over I froze as his lips pressed against the top of my head. "Ready to head back?"

His question stirred me from my thoughts and I nodded. "Yeah..." I said. We'd been sitting and talking quietly for a while, school was probably almost over by now. I'd actually missed a whole day of school and didn't even bat an eye. I enjoyed spending time with Edward, enjoyed it so much that I'd forgotten about classes and everything else. Well, almost everything else.

We made our way back down the mountain, him pulling me onto his back to run down quicker. And then he'd actually gotten in my truck to drive me home after sending a text to his sister telling her to drive his car home. The drive back to my house was filled with silence and I mildly wondered how he knew where I lived.

It didn't take long to pull up in front of my house and he turned off my truck. Glancing up at him slowly. "Oh...oh i'm sorry I don't know how you'll get home.."

He chuckled, flashing his pearly white teeth. "I can run home faster than any car can take me." he said as he moved out of the car. Before I could blink he was at my side, opening my door for me.

I looked up at him in surprise and laughed. "Oh, right. Vampire." I said, shaking my head as I slid out of my car, reaching to grab my backpack and pull it over my shoulder.

Watching him for a minute, he looked around and stepped towards the dent in my car. Reaching to take ahold of the metal, he tugged what seemed like lightly. But it popped the dent out and it made me blink. "Uh, wow, thanks." I said with a chuckle.

He smiled up at me before he stepped back. "No problem. Say um...um do you need a ride to school tomorrow?" he asked and when I tilt my head to one side he quickly continued. "I mean, do you want a ride to school? You won't have to drive, I could come pick you up..."

"Edward...come on not you too. Please. We're friends..."

"Yes, a ride to school from a _friend_."

I narrowed my eyes a bit and shook my head, leaning back against the door of the truck. "I don't think thats a good idea. People will talk. We're not together. We can hang out tomorrow though in class."

"Okay then. How about lunch?"

"Maybe. We'll see." I said, shifting uncomfortably. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and reached to look at it. Of course it was Jake.

 _'Hey Bells. I'm running a bit late, be at your house in a few.'_

I had completely forgotten he was coming over and we were supposed to hang out, maybe go to the diner for dinner. I didn't like going to the diner, but sometimes it was fun to make Jake come with me. "Oh, okay I have to go. Look, I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?" I asked as I moved out from between him and my truck.

Walking up to my front door, I unlocked it and opened it before I looked back at where he had been, sighing. Of course he wasn't there anymore. He wasn't anywhere. Couldn't that boy even _act_ human when we were in my neighborhood? What if my neighbors saw his inhuman speed?

And I wondered if I worried for _his_ safety at others finding out his secret...or for _others_. Would he kill people if they knew? Obviously not everyone since I knew. I felt a bit stupid wondering. Of course Edward wouldn't kill people, especially right here where he lived. He had said that his family was different from others.

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A/N: Chapter fin! I know this is a bit shorter, but I just wanted this to be about Bella finding out what Edward was and confronting him. A lot of it is the way it happened in the movie, but I did change quite enough of it I think.

I debated on if I wanted to add more than I did, but I decided its better saved for the next chapter. Besides, this puts this chapter out a bit sooner and quicker after the last one {and that was my goal! Yay goals.}

As always, Read and review! I love reading reviews, and it encourages me to write. Soo please review and let me know what you think. The next chapter is already underway!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to all those that have reviewed! I love that you guys are liking my story! :-)

moraine9: Thanks! I love writing for Alice, she is such a unique character. Her and Jasper are probably my favorite couple in the series. You should try my _Southern Love_ story if you like my Alice!

saramicaela88: Yeah no problem! I'm happy to give shout outs to my reviewers and answer any questions! Yess Jake will be making the pack soon, I have the perfect idea for it that I've had for a while now. And, who knows, maybe Edward _won't_ get the hint. I mean, he is 109 after all.

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Chapter 4:

Bella's POV

So now that I knew the Cullens were vampires I wasn't always sure how to feel. Any normal human being would have run screaming, but not me. I stayed friends with the Cullens, mostly just Edward and Alice though. Whenever I spoke to Rosalie she seemed to glare at me with some kind of hate that I didn't understand.

Her husband Emmett was nice enough though, he'd chat with me. Jasper though...he just looked in pain. Alice had once mentioned how he wasn't as used to the smell of humans as the rest of them. He was the newest...vegetarian, as they liked to call themselves.

I spent more and more time with the Cullens, with Alice. We'd go out shopping, at Alice's request, and we'd sit together at lunch. Or, well, she, Jasper and Edward joined our table sometimes. It still freaked Jessica out a little, it was no secret that she liked Edward, and I liked to snicker a bit at the thought of what Edward must be hearing going through her mind.

One afternoon Alice had come over to my house after school under the guise of doing homework. I wouldn't get to see Jake tonight, he had homework to do and he was working on cars around the reservation in order to earn some extra cash. He did that sometimes since he was the best mechanic I knew and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He wanted to be a mechanic after graduating high school, and as long as he was happy so was I. I planned on going to college at a nearby campus to get a degree in English, I'd already sort of decided that I wanted to teach English maybe at Forks High School.

As Alice and I sat in my living room with our school books open I shifted a bit. I'd sort of wanted to talk to her. I didn't have many girl friends that I was close to that I could talk about these things with. Sure I had my mother...but what girl talked boys with her mother?

"Alice...can I...ask you something?"

She smiled up at me and slid her book off her lap and onto the coffee table, shifting to face me. "Sure, anything."

I gave her a small smile as I shifted uncomfortably, looking down at my notes laying in my lap. "Jasper..he um...he was your... _first_ right? Or were you with someone else before him?"

She watched me for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't remember my human life. I woke up to this, originally I'd thought this was all there was, that I'd never been a human. At first I theorized that I was just born, like humans are, but as a vampire. It wasn't until I met Jazz that I learned more about our kind. Yes I'd gotten visions but...that wasn't that helpful. So, if you're asking about my human life...frankly I don't know what my love life was like then. But I can tell you that Jasper has been the only man I've ever wanted to be with..." she said.

Her voice trailed off for a moment as I looked up and watched the small smile play across her lips. "My first sight into this life was of Jaspers face, a vision of him. He is how I knew my name you know. I heard him calling to me, calling me his Alice."

Listening to her I couldn't help but smile too. It was so sweet. "So how did you know when you wanted to...um...be with him?"

Her golden eyes had stared off into space for a moment before she turned them to me, blinking. "What...?" she started to ask before realization dawned on her and her eyes widened. I knew if she could have she would have blushed on the spot. "Oh! Oh well...I always knew. It was different for me. I suppose its different for all of us. Us vampires have true mates and most of the time we know it. I suppose you could say I just felt it was right."

Slowly one of her cold hands moved to rest on my knee. "You'll know if the time is right. Are you ready to go farther with Jake?"

"Yes, I think so. I mean, I want to, I love him. But I'm just nervous. Does it...does it hurt?"

Shaking her head she patted my knee before sitting up. "Not really. At least not for me. When we were together Jasper could tell I hadn't been with someone before...even when I was human. But no, it didn't hurt. It felt...strange at first. But it feels good after you get used to it. If you want to be with Jake you should. At your pace though."

I blushed as I thought about it, looking up at her and nodding. "I do. I think I know how I want to do it too. Charlie...he um, he's going on an ice fishing trip weekend in a couple of weeks with a few friends. They rented a cabin on the lake a couple hours from here. And I thought...about having Jake over.."

She smiled as she shifted to sit up, bringing one leg underneath her. "Oohh sounds romantic. You could make him dinner and have a quiet, nice evening. I imagine thats something I'd have done with Jazz if we were still human. Make him dinner..." she said slowly.

Thinking for a minute before nodding. "Yeah I might do that. It'll be good to have a nice night at home with him. And...and if things progress to... _that_...well, I'm pretty sure I'll be ready. I mean its getting harder and harder to not give into it. I...I want Jake to be the one. He'll always be the one."

I felt a bit guilty telling Alice this, after all her brother Edward still liked me, he'd flirt with me every now and then and while I liked it more from him than from Mike it was still inappropriate.

"Then he should be the one. You said you've been dating for a while." she said, leaning her arm over the back of the couch and resting her chin on her arm as she looked up at me. "I don't know what it's like falling in love as a human. Part of me wishes I did, and part of me wonders if its any different than being a vampire. I just know that love is..love is this...intense thing. I'd had visions of Jasper up until the day I met him. But I never realized just how good it'd feel to be in his presence you know?"

It was almost inspiring to hear Alice talk about love, the way she talked about Jasper made me smile slowly. "Yeah it can be intense. When I'm with him it's like I'm whole. When he's not here it feels like a part of me is missing. I miss him all the time. When we'd broken up a while ago for a couple of weeks...it was terrible. I don't think I can function without him."

Alice smiled sweetly at me before she nodded. "Sounds like the same feeling. If you feel that much for him then you should definitely go for it." she said. Edward always showed distaste for Jake, but Alice had only ever been nice to him. Alice was nice to everyone.

"What was it like? Being turned?" I asked curiously as I looked up at her.

"I really don't remember it. I've been told its painful. Jasper told me it burns, that it was the worst burn he'd ever felt. Our human memories are always blurry after the change, like we're looking through a foggy glass. Jaspers still able to recall a lot of things from his human life, not the finer details though. He told me the burning of the change is the most memorable. But...but not for me. I don't remember any of it. I just remember blackness, like I was floating in a dark room. And I saw Jaspers face calling me, calling me his Alice, like he was calling me to him. And then...then I woke up.." she said slowly.

Her voice was silent for a moment as she remembered and closed her eyes halfway. "I was alone in a dark forest at night, and the thirst burned my throat like a white hot iron. It was so intense. I was scared and didn't know where I was or what I was, but I knew my name, I knew my Jasper. My creator wasn't there, it was just me. I learned what I knew about being a vampire through visions."

I listened quietly to her story and nodded slowly. "I wonder why you don't remember.."

"I don't really know. Carlisle doesn't know either. But when they all describe the burning...I'm sort of glad I woke up to this life how I did. You see to a vampire their mate is everything in their lives from the moment they see them. And from that moment Jasper was my everything, even though he didn't meet me until many years after that."

Smiling at her memory and nodding a bit. "Sounds a lot like soul mates."

She giggled and nodded. "I would suppose so."

And I wondered what that would be like. What would it be like to spend an eternity with my Jacob? To have that long with him. Suddenly I felt entirely too old, like too much time had passed. Part of my brain told me not to waste anymore, and I knew I wouldn't.

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I had it all planned, I knew what I was going to do and all that was left was to invite Jake over. It'd been a while since I'd talked to Alice as I waited for my dads ice fishing trip to come around. For some reason I was nervous about asking Jake to come over so I had put it off.

Though the week before the trip rolled around and I knew I was quickly running out of time. So one afternoon I was at Jakes house hanging out in his garage. We'd found a couple of motorcycles to restore to try out. Somehow we'd decided that it was a good idea to build two wheeled death machines. But it was an excuse to spend time together, to do something different. I trusted Jake to make sure I didn't get hurt...or at least try.

I sat on a stool just behind Jake as he worked on the bike, looking over his shoulder as his fingers tinkered with the mechanics of it, his eyes intent on the intricate pieces of the machine. I loved watching him work, it was like he was in another world.

Shifting the stool to lean close to him, I leaned my chin on his shoulder and reached to where he was working. "Whats this?" I asked curiously.

He chuckled and moved my hand. "Don't touch." he said, looking over at me and leaning to kiss the tip of my nose. "I love you Bells, but you're a klutz and I don't want to fix it all over again."

Even though I laughed I slapped his arm. "Jake!" I yelled with a laugh, shaking my head. "Don't be mean."

"Not being mean, stating a fact baby."

I smiled and rested my chin back against his shoulder, my fingers moving up and down his strong arms. I liked seeing my pale skin against his russet skin, we were very different and I liked it. Watching as he went back to work, my eyes finding his face as I watched him.

I was still sure that I wanted to be with him, especially in that way. I was just nervous and I wasn't sure why. I'd known this boy ever since I could remember, we probably even had play dates when we were infants and our dads wanted to hang out. There was no reason to be nervous about asking him anything I was pretty sure.

After a moment of me staring at him his eyes glanced to look at me, smiling before he sat back. "Alright Bells, whats up? You've been staring at me all afternoon. Now, I know I'm good looking but even you don't stare this much."

A deep blush moved over my cheeks at his words as I sat up, clearing my throat and looking down at my lap, chewing on my bottom lip. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, I mean you're my girl you can stare all you want. I can just tell theres something different about it today. Come on, tell me."

My hands rubbed my legs before I took in a deep breath, looking up at him. "This weekend you now my dads going ice fishing with some friends...your dad, Harry...the guys you know. And um...I'd have the house to myself. So I was wondering if...if you'd want to come over? For dinner? And uh.." I blushed, wondering how to phrase this. How did you tell your boyfriend that you kind of wanted to lure him to your house to have sex with him?

He watched my face, one hand moving up to brush my chin up to look at him and smiling. "Yeah Bells I'll be there. I thought we'd be hanging out anyway.."

But he sounded a bit clueless on the other part of what I was trying to hint. Slowly I reached up and took his hand from my chin, twining our fingers with each other as I looked up into his eyes. "I want you to come over...and...and _stay_ , Jake..." I said slowly, nervously.

At that he seemed to get it and his eyes widened a bit. "Wh-what? I...are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I love you, I want to do this. I want you."

In a moment he leaned forward to capture my lips with his, his hands moving to cup my face as he kissed me slowly and sweetly. I let out a small mewl of content against his lips as I tilted my head to one side into the kiss. My hands reached up to take ahold of his wrists, squeezing them just slightly.

He leaned back from my lips, placing a small kiss on my nose before smiling to me. "For future reference...you never have to _ask_ if I'm ready for sex. I'm a teenage boy, I'm pretty sure I've been ready since I was about thirteen or fourteen and I accidentally walked into your room when you were changing and wearing just a bra and shorts."

I giggled and blushed at the memory, shaking my head. "Yeah and I threw my shoes at your head and yelled at you."

"Hey, those hurt." he said with a laugh, kissing me again slowly. "I'll be at your house on Saturday. No pressure, okay? You can change your mind still."

"I won't." I insisted as I kissed him again before sitting back with a smile. "Keep fixing the bike, get your mind out of the gutter." I said, playfully shoving his shoulder.

He laughed and rolled his head. "Sure, put the idea of sex in my head and tell me to go back to working on the bike. That's mean Bells."

"You've waited years, you can wait a few days." I said, leaning to kiss his shoulder before sitting back up. "Besides, the bike is coming along pretty well. You're doing a great job."

He grinned a little as he shifted to turn to look back at the bike. "Ah yes, stroke my ego to change the subject. But it worked. Yeah the bike is coming along really well. I'll probably be finished soon. Though tomorrow I have to go fix Harry Clearwaters car so I won't be able to work on this."

One hand moved to rest on his shoulder, squeezing it. "Do what you have to. This isn't as important."

"Yeah but it's fun. Charlie would kill us if he found out you know."

I laughed and nodded. "Well, Charlie would kill _you_ if he knew we were going to have sex in his house this weekend. Remember that."

"Touche." he said with a laugh, looking down at what he was doing.

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The days leading up to the weekend seemed to drag. I was looking forward to spending a night very _alone_ with my boyfriend. I'd said goodbye to my father the night before, having packed sandwiches for him to take along for him and his friends. He'd left early in the morning far before I'd woken up.

Most of the day I spent preparing for tonight. I cleaned everything in the house at least once, some things twice...especially my bedroom. And I'd put fresh sheets on my bed and started dinner early so it would be finished in time. Jake wouldn't be here until around 6:30 for dinner, and when I only had an hour left I realized that I had to get myself ready too.

I'd taken a shower, washing thoroughly and then blow dried my hair before I stood in my bedroom trying to decide just what to wear. I didn't want to go with my usual jeans and shirt, I wanted to go with something sexy. Thanks to my shopping trips with Alice I had a bit more clothes now, not that I used all of them.

Finding some of the laced panties that Alice helped me pick out I slipped them on, along with a matching bra. Looking at myself in the mirror. I looked different in the lace underwear, but I was sure Jake would like it.

It wasn't often that I wore skirts...well, okay I never wore skirts. But I took out a casual jean skirt, pulling it on and brushing my hands over my hips and then I found a white button up shirt, the sleeves going partway down my arms just a bit past my elbows. Buttoning up the shirt I turned to look at myself in the mirror.

The outfit was casual enough but it felt like dressing up to me since I was so used to my jeans. I rarely ever showed my legs, even in the summer months in Forks it wasn't warm enough to always wear shorts, and I didn't go swimming in the water at La Push like others did. And I'd only went cliff diving a couple of times even then. So a skirt felt awkward, but I was mildly glad for it, that Alice had talked me into picking _any_ skirt over my usual jeans.

Taking in a deep breath as I turned to walk down the stairs again to check on dinner.

Somehow tonight felt different. Maybe it was because of what we'd planned. Would it have been better if it was spontaneous? No, I was pretty sure it'll be wonderful whether it was planned or spontaneous. But I was also pretty sure Jacob wouldn't have actually been with me that way if it was spontaneous. He'd told me before how he wanted to wait until I was ready and not a moment sooner and he might have thought in a heated moment that I was just asking him to be with me because I was in the moment. No, I'd wanted no doubts about tonight in my mind or his.

When I heard the knock on the door I glanced up. 6:20. He was early. Smiling a bit, I walked to the door and opened it, smiling up at my Jacob. He was dressed casually himself, wearing a pair of jeans but a bit nicer of a shirt than he usually did. His shirt was a button up with long sleeves that he'd pushed up over his elbows.

"Well, you're early. Good thing I'm all ready. Come in."

I could see his eyes on me, moving down to the skirt I wore, and I saw a bit of fire in those eyes. So, a skirt had been a good choice then.

He just nodded before he stepped in, one hand moving to cup my neck and bringing me against his chest in a slow, heated kiss. I shuddered against his chest and barely registered the sound of a small 'plop' while his lips were on mine, pushing the door closed as my hands moved to rest on his sides, leaning up into the kiss while I melted into him.

It was no secret what I felt for him, and how I enjoyed kissing him and being so close. But I shuddered and reluctantly broke the kiss, laughing a bit. "Calm down Jake, keep kissing me like that and we might not last until dinner."

He chuckled and leaned to kiss my temple. "I'd be down for that." he muttered. Grinning mischievously, he quickly moved to plant several tiny kisses all along my face, making me giggle and squirm against his hard chest.

"Jaaake! Stopp!" I giggled, pressing my hands to his chest and pushing him away. "Dinner will be ready in a little bit. It's in the oven and cooking. We can go watch tv until its ready."

"Sounds good to me." he said as he stopped his kiss-assault. Slowly his arm moved around my shoulders and he reached back to close the door more securely before we walked into the living room.

Once we reached the couch he moved to sit down. Tugging on my hand I laughed as I landed on his lap, looking up at him with a shake of my head. "You're in a mood tonight." I said softly as I shifted, moving to sit sideways on his lap and moving my arm around his neck.

"I'm in a _good_ mood. What could be better? Dinner with my Bells. And you're beautiful tonight by the way. Then again you're always beautiful, but its rare I get to see my girl in a skirt." he commented and I felt his hand rest on my thigh just a few inches from the hem of my skirt.

Those words made me smile as I ran my fingers along his chest. "Yeah well, you're wearing a nice shirt too..." my voice was soft as I looked up at him, feeling the blush along my cheeks. "Didn't you bring a bag? Like...an over night bag?" I asked hesitantly and bit my bottom lip.

"Yeah I did. I set it by the door. Then again you were quite busy while I was kissing you."

"A very good distraction." he chuckled, leaning to kiss the side of my neck. He took in a deep breath and leaned his head back, looking up at me. "Gods Bells, what _are_ you cooking? It smells delicious."

Jake had always loved my cooking, and I enjoyed cooking for him as often as I could. "Well, I made stuffed chicken, roasted potatoes and green beans."

"Sounds amazing. I am so glad you can cook. You'll make me fat one of these days."

I laughed at him and playfully hit his shoulder. "Like you'd get fat. I swear Jake you're a bottomless pit. How much do you eat? And you _are_ lucky. Can you even make toast?" I teased.

He gave me a look, attempting to be serious. "Hey! It's not my fault I burn toast, it's the toasters, okay? The kitchen absolutely hates me. Besides...why should I cook when I have a girlfriend to do that for me?"

Again I laughed, shaking my head. "Its not the toasters fault, it's the cooks fault." I said, leaning and kissing his nose before I moved to stand up to check on dinner.

But Jake grabbed me and yanked me down, quickly his hands moving to tickle my sides making me shriek and slap at his chest. "Jake! Stop! Stoppp!" I laughed as I squirmed and giggled against his chest. Feeling his fingers tickling my sides even more I squirmed, pushing against his chest until I fell off his lap, landing on the floor with a thud. "Oww! Jerk." I said, playfully kicking his foot.

He laughed and moved to take my hands, pulling me to my feet and kissing the side of my face. "You love me though."

"Maybe." I said, pushing his chest before I turned to walk into the kitchen, straightening my skirt a little bit as I walked. His carefree spirit eased my nervousness at tonight. I was making the right decision, I wanted this, him.

I fussed over dinner until it was finished and we ate in comfortable silence, making small talk as we chatted about various things going on. Jake would tell me about his work, the cars he was working on. He wanted to open up his own mechanics shop after high school on the reservation.

The reservation was small and they didn't have a mechanic shop on the rez. Most of the residents either took their cars into Forks or had boys like Jake fix them. I supported that idea, Jake liked fixing things, he was good with anything with a motor really. And some things without. He'd fixed my sink once or twice when Charlie had just broken it more.

Part of my brain started to imagine our future together. Maybe living in a small house on the reservation, me teaching in Forks and him working on cars somewhere on the rez too. I'd always only wanted a future with him and I didn't see that changing any time soon.

After dinner Jake helped me clean up before we settled down on the couch. I sat down next to him and he moved one arm around my shoulders while his other hand rested on his stomach, rubbing just slowly.

"Ugh I'm so full Bells. That was amazing." he said, hugging me tighter against his side making me smile a bit. I loved when he'd hold me tight against him.

"Thanks. It was great." I said with a smile, glancing up at him. Slowly I leaned to kiss his shoulder, my arms moving more around his waist as I leaned close. Then I shifted to place a kiss on the side of his neck, my body pressed up against his side.

Before I knew it his arms pulled me up onto his lap so I straddled his waist. Smiling at him I leaned to kiss him just slowly, letting my eyes close. Our kiss was slow and sweet as our lips moved against one another, our tongues sneaking out to dance together in slow movements. I could feel my whole body light up at the feel of his lips on mine, his hands moving to my hips to hold me up close to him.

I'd been worried that tonight would start off awkward, but I should have known better. His kiss made me relax into his chest, melt into him as my arms moved more around his neck, fingers playing with his long hair.

My body relaxed close to his as I twined my fingers through his long dark hair. I felt his hands as they rubbed my sides up and down just slowly. I shifted my body, pressing more intimately against him and I heard him groan against my lips.

Leaning back from the kiss, I slowly kissed his bottom lip, playfully nipping on it before I kissed along his jawline and to his ear. Nibbling on that lightly, my tongue moving along the rim making him shudder underneath me as his hands gripped my hips tighter.

"Lets...lets go upstairs?" I asked in a soft whisper.

He didn't need to be told twice. Standing up, he picked me up with him and I giggled a bit as his hands moved to cup my thighs to hold me up against him. That movement also made me wrap my legs around his waist and he started to walk up the stairs as he held me.

We went up the stairs and he walked us into my bedroom, pressing the door closed with just his foot. Moving up to my bed he carefully laid me back on my back before climbing up on top of me, resting his weight on his elbows and needs while he was still settled between my legs.

I looked up at him, a slight blush on my cheeks as our eyes met. We stared into each others eyes for a moment before he leaned down to capture my lips in a light kiss. My eyes drifted shut and I let him begin to kiss down the side of my neck making my skin tingle where his lips touched.

Already I was taking in deeper breaths as my hands moved to begin unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time. Releasing each button, my fingers moved over the bare skin of his chest. His skin felt heated, hotter than normal and it made me shudder. Though he always felt so, so good.

Another groan left his lips when my skin touched his and his kisses on my neck grew more heated. His hands worked my own buttons loose quicker than mine had. He had my shirt undone when I still had a couple buttons left on his.

When he leaned from my neck I almost wanted to protest, but he pulled my shirt and I helped him take it off. Sliding the fabric off my arms and throwing it onto the floor. I could feel the blush heat my cheeks as his eyes looked down at my chest. Now I'd always had smaller breasts than other girls, but Jake never made me feel insecure. The look in his eyes when he eyed my body always made heat pool in intimate places, straight between my legs.

His head leaned down to slowly place kisses between my breasts, his lips moving and tongue brushing over my skin. I let my eyes close again before I reached to finish unbuttoning his shirt, moving my hands to push it over his shoulders. His hands let me go to help me, but his lips never left my skin as he kissed all along the tops of my breasts.

Once he was free from his shirt his hands went back to work. Sliding up my sides and moving to cup my breasts over my bra and he squeezed them slightly, making me moan and my thighs grip him a bit tighter.

"Jake.." I moaned at his kisses, my hands moving up to twine in his hair, gripping it lightly.

At the sound of my moan his hips pressed up to grind against me and I could feel his hardness pressed against me. His size still made me blush. As I wondered at his size, his hands moved behind me to unhook my bra and pull it off, tossing it to one side. My bra was only off for a moment before his mouth closed over my nipple, suckling on it just slowly, his teeth grazing over the sensitive nub. I'd always loved what he could make me feel especially by playing with my breasts, and he always seemed more than happy to oblige.

The feelings his mouth caused in my body made me arch to him, letting out mewls and moans I never understood how I could make. I'd never have made these sounds under different circumstances, and I supposed that was the point.

It all felt so good, his hands moving down my sides as he stroked my skin. Slowly his fingers traveled down my sides and to my skirt, starting to unbutton it and leaning back from me to pull my skirt down and off. I'd never really been fully naked in front of him before. Sure we'd seen each other, but in order to contain ourselves we usually didn't ever get completely naked.

Taking in a deep breath I shifted to slide my panties down and off just after he'd taken my skirt off. Shifting to lay back and spread my legs so he could settle between them, the blush deep on my cheeks as my eyes stared up into his. I watched as his eyes slowly raked down my whole body with a hunger I'd seen before in his eyes, but intensified.

In a moment he leaned down to kiss me again heatedly, his body pressing up against mine. His shorts felt a bit rough against my pale skin and so my fingers moved down his chest, slipping over his muscles to rest on the hem of his pants. Slowly starting to undo them and he shuddered against me.

But then he paused overtop of me, leaning back from my kiss and taking in deep, heated breaths. His hands moved to rest on either side of my head and I opened my eyes to look up at him. There was a strange, almost pained expression over his features that made me tilt my head to one side.

Moving my hands up, I rest them on the sides of his neck. "J-Jake? Whats the matter?"

"It...its-I..." he began, though it didn't seem like he could get it out. Gently he pushed to sit up on his knees and I felt so exposed laying there underneath him, now sure that something was definitely wrong.

Slowly I sat up, leaning to kiss the left side of his jaw, moving my fingers around his neck to trace my fingers into it a bit, attempting to put him at ease as I looked up at his face. But he didn't move, his skin was trembling underneath my touch. "Jake..?" I asked again. I'd never seen such a look on his face before and frankly it scared me.

He shifted and swallowed, shaking his head. "I...I gotta...I gotta go. Somethings wrong I...I don't understand...what..." he muttered. But he wasn't making sense at all.

"You're not making sense Jake, come on you're scaring me."

But before I could lean more to him he pushed off the bed, buttoning his shorts again and looking at me for a moment in that pained expression. His mouth opened once before closing, like he didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry..." he said before he just took off out of my room, confusing me further.

"Jake!" I yelled, getting up and pulling a blanket that'd been on my bed with me, wrapping it tightly around my bare form. Quickly I followed him as he walked down the stairs, grabbing his keys and walking to the door. "Jake stop it! Come back here. Whats going on!?" I yelled after him as I followed him to the door.

He didn't stop like I'd asked, and he didn't look back. I stood at the front door with the blanket wrapped tightly around my naked body, gripping it until my knuckles went white as I watched him. "Jake!" I yelled after him again, my heart clenching in my chest at the sight of him running.

Had I done something wrong? Did he not want me like that, especially now that he'd seen all of me? No, he'd definitely been excited and ready, but something happened. I must have done something wrong.

Tears slowly rimmed my eyes as I watched him speed away from the house. Just what was going on with him? I felt pieces of me breaking apart at the sight of him fleeing my bedroom so quickly. My heart was pounding painfully in my chest as I slowly slid down the doorframe to sit in a heap in the door, watching the way he'd gone even after I couldn't see his truck anymore.

Had that really just happened? Tonight was supposed to be the best night of our lives thus far. A lump was in my throat and I cried out slowly, willing the tears not to fall from my eyes, one of my worst fears being realized in that moment.

Jacob Ephraim Black, the man I loved with all my heart, had just rejected me.

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Chapter Fin!

A/N: Okay...okay that was a bit mean, I realize that. I apologize right here and now. I debated on myself whether to leave it like that, have that happen or not. And in the end {obviously} I decided I liked it this way.

Buttt I'll explain next chapter, and I've been pretty good at getting these ideas down, typed and published I think. So I don't think you'll have to wait *that* long for the next chapter. I'm going to start it soon as I publish this one. I hope to have the next one out before the end of the week-ish...hopefully, maybe. We'll see.

Again I thank all my readers and reviewers! I love seeing people enjoying my story.

As always, review and let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hehe, yes I am quite evil aren't I?

This chapter is a bit longer than the last few, so I hope you enjoy it. It is a bit later than I thought it'd be finished but the explanation is in the author notes at the end.

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Chapter 5:

Bella's POV

I was upset, broken by what Jacob had done. I'd spent pretty much the rest of that night crying and feeling insecure. I had to pull it together though, for Charlie. My father did not need to know that my boyfriend rejected me in the most intimate way possible.

So the day Charlie had come home I acted like nothing was wrong. I even barely flinched when he asked if I'd hung out with Jake while he was gone, to which I actually told him no. Charlie wasn't the most observant man and he definitely was not the best with emotions but he could tell something was wrong. Especially when weeks dragged on and I didn't even see Jacob.

At first I'd tried to call him, to talk to him and find out what had happened. The look on his face haunted me at night when I'd close my eyes, my nightmares were made up of that pained look as he hovered overtop of me. My nightmares, of course, made everything worse. I had nightmares of him rejecting me, telling me that he just didn't love me anymore, that I wasn't enough for him.

Whenever I'd call his house Billy would answer and mention how Jake couldn't come to the phone. One time Billy had even told me he was sick - he had mono. But wasn't mono a kissing disease? If Jake had it why didn't I? The longer it went on the more anger mixed in with my other hurt, rejected emotions.

I really didn't mean to but I'd even started pulling away from my friends at school. I'd sit with them at lunch but barely said a word. I wouldn't even talk much with Alice even though she tried. But she didn't pry, bless her because I wasn't ready to actively talk about what was going on.

Days turned into weeks and my depression grew. It felt like a physical hole had been ripped into my chest. Without my sun it felt like I was left in a perpetual darkness. I went through the motions. Woke up, made breakfast, got ready for school, went to class, came home, did homework, made dinner, shower, went to bed. It was like that every day, except on the weekends I traded school with chores around the house. Our house had never been so clean, and I had never been so ahead on my school work.

Part of me could tell that my friends and family were worried about me, but I couldn't make myself care. My sun had left me and I didn't want to be any part of it. So I tried, I put on a smile and tried to act like my old self, but I wasn't completely whole anymore.

One day as I walked out to school though Charlie followed me, stopping me before I could get into my truck. I looked up at him and shifted my backpack up on my shoulder a bit.

"Alright Bells. Whats the matter?"

"What..what do you mean?" I asked in mock ignorance. Charlie did _not_ need to know.

"I mean you've been moping around this house for weeks. You never go down to La Push anymore, and I'm pretty sure you always spent more time there than home. What happened? Did Jake break up with you?"

The sound of his name made my heart hurt and I sighed. "In a way. I'll be fine dad, just give me some time okay?"

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet and looked down, resting his hands on his hips. "Maybe this summer you should go visit Renee. Get out of Forks for a while. It might make you feel better."

I shrugged a bit, squeezing the strap of my backpack. "I don't know..." I said slowly. I liked visiting Renee, but Forks was my home, it'd always been my home. Then again Jake was what made it feel like home. When my mother had left my dad she'd originally taken me with her. But I'd thrown an absolute fit without my best friend. I'd cried and stomped and locked myself in my bedroom and refused to come out. It was the one and only time in my life I'd thrown a _real_ temper tantrum. In the end Charlie and Renee had decided it was best for me to go live with Charlie and visit my mom, even though I could see how much it broke her heart.

But right now Phoenix sounded like a good idea. Though maybe it'd be Jacksonville since my mom had been talking about how her new husband Phil, the baseball player, had accepted a contract playing in Florida.

"Dad..." I said slowly, looking up at him. I rarely ever just called him dad. I usually called him Charlie, I was the unconventional sort. "Would you be upset if I...if I wanted to move in with mom? For a little while?"

"For...how long Bells?" he asked hesitantly and I felt so bad for hurting him.

"Look I don't know, I have to think about it. But...but I think you're right. I think I need a change of scenery. I'm just thinking about it right now..."

"Well...well I guess you could if thats what you want. Just think real hard about it. How about we just send you to visit her first? You know you can always come home.."

I nodded slowly, moving to hug my father tightly and sighing. "I do. Thanks dad..." I said slowly before getting into my car and heading off to school.

Hurting Charlie was the last thing I wanted to do, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. Part of me was rooted here in Forks, where I'd grown up with my best friend. But now that I didn't have him anymore I wasn't sure exactly what to do.

That day I'd also made a decision to talk to Alice. It was quite a nice day under the cloud cover, no rain had fallen yet which I was grateful. I still hated the rain. But today when going to lunch I caught Alice before she sat down and quietly asked her to sit with me alone. We choose a table a bit away from our friends and I leaned against it as I put my tray down, looking down at it.

It was awkward to think about bringing it up and I picked at my food, but Alice didn't push me. Finally I looked up at her and swallowed the small piece of food in my mouth. I had to talk to _someone_ about this. "So um..I...I'm sorry for not being myself. I've just been really upset lately."

She nodded understandingly as she looked up at me. "I can tell, we all can. It's killing Edward that he cannot hear your thoughts and help you.."

Great, of course Edward would be overeager to help. But he was a friend so I suppose I could see why he would want to help. But talking about this was uncomfortable for me. "I um...well...Jake and me..." I began, thinking about it. "Well alright, so I decided to take the next step with him a couple of weeks ago. We planned the night and everything. Everything was going great and wonderfully and then he...he just...just got up and left. Ran out and left me there." I admitted slowly.

As I talked I looked down at my lunch, fresh tears welling in my eyes at the memory and my cheeks heat up. "He rejected me Alice. And it hurt. A lot. And now he won't even talk to me, I've called him but he doesn't answer. He doesn't want me anymore and I just...just can't deal with it."

I felt her cold skin on mine and looked up to see her hand overtop of mine and squeezed just lightly. "Oh Bella. Thats horrible." she said as she shifted her seat closer to me, hugging me lightly and rubbing my shoulder. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I can understand why you're upset. I would be too."

Reaching up I wiped my eyes slowly and sniffled a bit, looking up at her. "It hurts without him. Like theres a hole in my chest that won't close. He made me happy, and now I just don't know what to do with myself. I've never had to be happy without him before."

"Well then the way I see it you have two choices. You could either go talk to him, or learn to be happy without him." she suggested.

I wasn't sure which one to do. "Obviously he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Thats why _you_ have to talk to _him_. Give him no choice but to talk to you. Go down to his house and talk to him." she said with a nod, rubbing my shoulder lightly. "I'd want answers if I were you." she said before she sighed, leaning from me and resting her arms against the table. "No wonder the vision changed..."

"What..?" I asked, looking up at her. "What vision?" I asked. I knew she saw the future and once before I'd asked her how it worked. She'd told me it wasn't always clear and it wasn't set in stone. She was only as sure about the future as our decisions were.

Alice looked down guiltily and ran her fingers along the table. "Well...my visions come sometimes without me asking. And I tend to get visions of those who are my friends. You're my friend so...so I'd gotten visions of you, small snips of images. With you though its strange, sometimes the vision is clear and sometimes its blurry, foggy. I used to have these visions of what your future would look like.."

Instantly this intrigued me. "What visions? What were they. Oh Alice tell me please." I asked, this time resting my hand on hers and squeezing.

"With humans its always different. But I saw a nice future for you, even though it was blurry or foggy." she started to say but stopped herself with a shrug. "Now I don't see anything. All I see is blank."

Slowly my hand moved away from hers and looked up at her. "Blank? Does that mean I'll...I'll die?"

"No..not necessarily. It just means you're uncertain of your future. Just make a decision thats best for you alright? Talk to him, don't talk to him...it's your choice."

"Can you...see...what'll happen if I choose to talk to him?"

Alice shook her head. "No. I've never been able to see Jacob that clearly. He's foggier than you. And besides it doesn't work that way. You have to make a decision and even then its not completely sure. You see, the future is a strange thing..its always changing with every decision we make, no matter how small."

I nodded a bit and smiled to her. "Thanks Alice.." I said before letting my smile slide away and sighing, looking down at my plate. "I miss him...a lot. It hurt when he ran off like that."

"I can imagine." she said with a shudder before she hugged me again when we heard the bell ring. "Don't worry. Everything will turn out how it is meant to. Talk to him, I would." she said before she got up.

And Alice did have a point, but I was still hesitant about actually talking to him. I wasn't really keen on the idea of being rejected to my face even more than I already had been. I spent most of the rest of the day in a daze, trapped inside my own brain as I contemplated on what to do.

Edward had attempted to talk to me a bit during class, though I barely paid attention while I was stuck in my own brain. Though he caught up with me at my truck and I looked up at him. Obviously now he knew what was wrong, he'd probably read it in Alice's mind, just what I'd been dreading. I did _not_ want to share this with him.

When he stopped me at my truck though I turned to look up at him, almost feeling deja vu back to this morning when Charlie had stopped me at my truck. Would this end up being a trend?

"Hey...so um...I know what happened with Jacob...are you sure you're alright?" he asked, concern lining his face. Maybe he was just trying to be a good friend.

I nodded a little and opened my truck to put my bag in before closing the door and leaning on it. My arms crossed across my chest tightly almost like I was trying to hold myself together. "I will be I suppose. I have no choices in the matter, I've got to be. For Charlie. And hopefully, eventually, for myself."

He leaned against the truck next to me as he looked down at my face still. "Alice didn't willingly tell me you know..."

"Yeah I know you read her mind. I get it, it's fine I'm not mad. I need to get used to the fact that Jake doesn't want me anymore. He was always way out of my league.."

At my words Edward moved to brush my chin so I looked at him, meeting his eyes. "Bella...nobody is out of your league. You're beautiful."

A blush hinted at my cheeks at his words and I gave him a weak smile. "Thanks.." I said with a sigh, leaning my head back against the truck and looking up at the clouds in the sky. "It'll just take some time."

"Are you going to go talk to him?"

"I don't know, I haven't decided yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I have to think about it. Really I don't want to be rejected to my face again." I said with a shrug.

At one point just a few weeks ago I could tell Jacob anything. He hadn't just been my boyfriend but also my absolute best friend. I'd lost both of those things in one man that night. I don't think I'd spent so much time not talking to him in all my life as I had in these weeks. Even when I'd stay with Renee I'd talk to him on the phone a lot.

Edward sighed as he looked down at me. "I don't have to be able to read your mind to know what you're thinking right now...what you've been thinking about. Bella, I won't begin to hide the fact that I'm interested in you and I'd love to be with you. And I will if you want me. But you'll always think about him. I didn't want to accept it, not at first, and part of me still doesn't. Because there is still this pull to you, you're like a magnet to me. But you should go talk to him, figure out what is going on and get the closure you need. You don't want to leave things unfinished." he said, pushing slowly to stand up.

I looked up at him and blushed as my eyes met his golden eyes, he'd fed recently. "If you decide you want to move on...well, I'll be right here waiting. I know it might be dangerous for us to be together, that I shouldn't be with you being what I am. But around you...I want to throw caution to the wind, to be with you."

He leaned a bit closer to me and I swallowed thickly as his nose brushed mine. My breath quickened as he slowly brushed his lips to mine in just a light kiss. His lips felt so strange against mine, the only boy I'd ever really kissed was Jacob. Where Jacob was warm and soft Edward was cold and hard as his stone lips pressed against mine just lightly. It wasn't a deep kiss, just a small peck before he leaned back.

My cheeks were flaming as I looked up at him. My mouth opened once or twice to say something but I didn't know just what to say.

"Edward I...I can't. I'm sorry." I said as I quickly moved to get into my truck and he didn't stop me as I drove off away from him in a daze.

Edward Cullen had just _kissed_ me outside of our school. His lips had felt so different from what I was used to, but it did make me blush. He was nice enough to look at...but I missed those warm pliant lips, the soft russet skin against mine, the way Jakes lips stoked a fire deep inside me every time he kissed me.

I hadn't realized I was crying until I pulled into my driveway. Tears moved down my cheeks as I slid from my truck, slamming the door and moving as quickly as I was able up towards the front door.

But I would not get my reprieve that easily. It was winter in Forks and the rain had turned to ice, and I slipped and fell on the walkway up to my house, landing straight on my butt. It hurt to land like that and I whined, feeling the stinging pain as the tears moved down my cheeks.

I wasn't much for crying, but I couldn't help myself as I sat there in the ice. Charlie found me a short time later and quickly hurried me into the house, worrying over me. I'd finally let the tears out and now it seemed as though I couldn't stop.

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The weeks passed and before I knew it January had come and Christmas passed us by without any word from Jake. I kept calling, but Billy came up with new excuses, saying that Jacob was never home. Well where in the hell _was_ he? I'd been thinking about going to visit him and all in all I'd decided it was a bad idea. It was almost Jakes birthday too and I had always been able to spend his birthday with him.

But one day as I drove home from school I just couldn't stop myself. I found myself driving down the road to La Push, towards Jacobs house with my hands gripping the steering wheel in a vice like death grip. I needed to know, Alice was right. I couldn't sit at home and cry over him for much longer. I needed to know.

As I drove down the path to La Push I noticed the rain but barely registered it. Driving down the path towards Jacobs house I parked outside and moved to get out of the truck, slamming my door and walking up to the house, knocking loudly. I felt the rain starting to wet my skin, my rain jacket keeping my clothes underneath dry for the moment. At least if I cried it'd be masked by the pouring rain.

When the door opened Billy sat in his wheelchair looking up at me. "Bella. He's not in."

"Thats fine I'll wait. I need to talk to him." I insisted.

"I don't think thats a good idea. He'll call you when he's ready."

My lips pursed together tightly and gripped my hands. "I'm not going away, you can forget it. I need answers Billy. All of a sudden he stops talking to me? No, I won't accept that. He's been my best friend since I could remember."

Billy sighed and shook his head. "I'll let him know you're waiting." he said as he rolled back from the door and towards Jacobs bedroom. So I was right Jacob was home. Billy left the door open so I stepped in, glancing around at the living room that I knew oh so well. But I hovered in the doorway, feeling like I wasn't welcome here which was odd. I'd always been welcome in the Blacks home.

After a moment Billy wheeled back out and looked at me. "He's sleeping. You're welcome to wait." Even though he said the words I didn't believe I was quite _that_ welcome.

"Thats fine, I'll wait outside in my truck." I said, moving to walk out, wanting to get out of the awkward air inside the small house. Walking through the rain and getting into my truck I sighed as I looked up at the house. I was not going to get cold feet now. No, Jacob was going to have to look me in the face and give me a straight answer. I wouldn't and couldn't accept him running out. I'd never before felt so determined to see someone and it was slightly empowering, I was taking my life into my own hands regardless of what Jake said. I'd find out why he left and if he didn't want me then I'd deal with it.

Part of me knew that I'd just be dumped right here, that Jake wouldn't be with me. Part of my brain told me that I was just waiting here to get further dumped by my boyfriend. But my stubbornness didn't care. I'd sit here in my truck in the rain until that boy walked out of that house and force him to talk to me.

I watched the front door of the house and when I finally saw it open my breath caught in my throat at what I saw walk out. It was a man that walked out in just a pair of cutoff khaki shorts and shoes. He had short hair and muscles galore. It took me a minute to realize that this boy was Jacob, _my_ Jacob.

Hopping out of my car, I slammed the door and stormed up to him, meeting him just at the base of the porch and looked up at his face. Though he didn't look at me, his eyes looked down at the ground, over my shoulder, out at the yard, anywhere but my face.

"Jacob Ephraim Black, you _will_ tell me what is going on. Wait..you cut off your hair? And you're too good for a shirt now? Whats happened to you?" I demanded, my hands curled into small fists.

Still he didn't look at me but he took in a slow breath through his nose. "Bella, go home." he said in a voice that he was straining so hard to keep calm.

"Not until you tell me whats going on. What happened to you huh? You just...you storm out on a _very_ important night of our lives and don't call me back? I thought you were too sick to pick up a phone much less be out here with no shirt on in the rain."

I saw his adams apple move as he swallowed in thickly, his eyes on the ground probably looking at my feet. "And I'm sorry for that Bells, I truly, truly am. But you have to go home now.."

Rain poured down around us and I felt it soaking through my rain jacket, my hair becoming damp as I looked at him. At least the rain masked the tears in my eyes as I shook my head. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me anymore and I'll go. What happened? I deserve an answer, a straight answer. You...you run out on me and leave my life in a upheaval of emotions? Jake you're my best friend, I love you..."

Slowly I moved one hand up to rest on his chest and blinked. His skin was burning hot to the touch but my whole body didn't want to move that hand. Slowly my palm flattened against his skin as I let his warmth seep into me, looking up at him.

He had his eyes closed and was gritting his teeth, I saw how tightly his jaw was held as he stood there. Slowly he drew in a breath and shook his head. "I can't tell you. I just...I just need you to go home. I used to be this...this good kid, I used to be good for you. But I'm not anymore. I'm not... _good_ , and I promised I'd never hurt you...and this is me keeping that promise."

Anger boiled up inside of me and I shook my head. "This is you breaking that promise Jake! I need you. I need you like the air I breathe. Without you I'm...I'm not myself." I said, sniffing a bit through the slow tears that mixed with rain as it fell down my cheeks. Slowly I looked down and slid my fingers down his chest, taking a hesitant step back. "I'm not good enough for you, is that it? What did you...did you look at me, all of me and...and decide it wasn't what you wanted? I'm no model I know that.."

I didn't mean to let my insecurities pour out of my mouth but I couldn't help it. It was a wound that cut deep into my heart.

I felt his hands grab ahold of my shoulders but couldn't bring myself to look at him as I slowly bit my bottom lip. "It's not that Bella. It's never that. I just...I _can't_ tell you. Please. Go home, have a normal life, be happy..."

"Then what else is it!? I deserve an explanation!" I demanded, looking up at him and for the first time since coming here to La Push our eyes met. I watched as he looked into my eyes, his chocolate orbs widening as he stared down at me. Suddenly his fingers gripped my arms tightly, his fingers digging into my skin and I knew I might have bruises.

But his look was so intense, I'd never seen such an intense stare especially in my sweet Jacobs eyes.

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Jacobs POV

I wanted to push her away, to make her go on with her life. I wasn't good anymore, this thing that was inside me wasn't a good thing. I'd seen what Sam had accidentally done to Emily once and every piece of me wanted to avoid that with my Bella. It was my way to protect her, to protect her from myself. And I definitely did not want to risk her becoming like Leah when Sam imprinted on Emily instead of her. No, I would not put my Bella through that.

And I wished she'd just listen to me, but my Bella could sometimes be very stubborn. I loved that part about her but part of me also wanted that to tune down if just for this once.

But when she looked up at me and our eyes met I felt it. A twinge moved through my heart as I stared down at her, my eyes widening a bit. Taking in a slow breath, my chest pulling with a pain that I'd never felt before. Everything shifted, everything changed as I looked down into those brown eyes that I'd always loved.

 _Mate_. my inner wolf growled in my mind.

No longer was it gravity holding me to this Earth, it was my Bella. She infested every part of my brain and I instantly knew. I'd do anything for this woman, even more-so than when we'd first started dating. Willingly I knew at that moment that I'd lay down my very life to ensure her safety. I could no longer let her walk out of my life than I could live without a heart, lungs, organs, a brain. She was everything keeping me rooted to this earth alive.

My fingers gripped her arms tightly, probably a bit too tightly, but I couldn't help it. Quickly I crushed her against my chest and moved my arms around her in order to hold her tightly, seeking to protect her by just being in my arms. I'd heard the pain in her voice before, and saw it raw in her eyes, and I knew it was my fault. I wanted to put those pieces together by hugging her tightly against my chest.

She squirmed, her hands resting on my chest as she looked up at me. "Jake! What in the world are you doing? Stop, let me go! You don't get to do that, you don't get to tell me to leave in one breath and then hug me in the next."

For a moment I wasn't sure what she was talking about, I was running on a strange high from looking into her eyes, feeling myself become tied so directly to her. Slowly I moved my hands up to cup her face, shaking my head and leaning down to claim her lips in a slow kiss.

My eyes fell closed as I kissed her, feeling her lips pause underneath mine. Her hands moved to rest on my chest as my lips devoured hers. She was hesitant against me, almost like she wasn't sure. And part of me couldn't blame her, I mean I did run out on her. But now I knew what a mistake I'd made. Looking into her eyes shifted everything in my life once again. The first time my priorities changed was when I became a werewolf. And now once again when I found my mate, my imprint.

Well I'd always had her, I'd always felt a connection with her. And part of me had been afraid to get back with her after the change, after I'd learned about imprinting. I knew about Sam's imprint with Emily and how he had been with a girl he loved very much before seeing Emily. It'd hurt him and his ex so, so much when he left for Emily. But the pull of the imprint was just that strong. And so I'd decided, for our own good, that I had to give my Bella up, fearful that she wouldn't be my imprint. I didn't think I could live through hurting her.

But looking into her eyes I saw it, my whole world was there. All of a sudden it wasn't gravity holding me to the planet, it was her. Nothing else mattered in my mind but my Bella and I knew in that moment I would do anything and be anything for her, anything she needed. I'd always had a direct line to Sam's thoughts about his imprint, but I didn't realize the feelings could feel quite like this. This was much more intense than I'd ever felt before. My entire world revolved around her and I had no desire to change it.

Feeling her hands move up to grab ahold of my wrists, she squeezed them tightly as she kissed me back slowly for a moment. The feeling of her lips moving against mine made my heart nearly burst with these new emotions. Kissing her had always given me a high but now it was an extreme high I didn't realize I was capable of.

I stepped her back, moving back to her truck and pressing her back against it with a soft thump, careful not to hurt her though. Always careful not to hurt her. My lips moved slowly against hers as I held her pinned between my chest and her truck and there was nowhere I'd rather be. Even with the rain pouring down around us soaking our clothing, dribbling down out skin. She had to feel how much warmer my skin was now and the warmth of my body protected her from the cold of the rain falling.

But all too quickly she seemed to gather herself. She leaned back from me and quickly her hand punched me across my face. Though I was a _lot_ stronger now, a lot tougher and it actually hurt her hand to punch me in the face. She let out a cry of pain and I leaned back a bit, looking at her as she curled her injured hand against her chest.

"Bells...oh Bells, come here let me see that.." I said gently, reaching to take her hand.

But she jerked back, staring up at me with wide almost frightened eyes. "What the _hell_ Jake! A punch in the face shouldn't feel like that. Whats going on!?" she asked, moving back against her truck. Her skin was trembling now and it pulled on my heart. She was cold and hurt.

Sighing slowly I moved to step closer to her, brushing my fingers along her hair. "Come on baby let me take care of that huh? Come on inside...you're cold."

"But you're not. Your skin is hot but hard as a rock too. What is going on here? Whats going on with _you_?" she asked quickly, her back pressed against the truck as she stared up at me.

"A lot is going on with me right now.." I said with a sigh. I knew I should tell her, but my mind was wrestling with me. Part of my mind knew I needed to follow Sam's instructions, but another part of me was entirely too loyal to my imprint to want to hide anything.

Slowly I stepped to her, resting my hands on either side of her against her truck as I leaned close, closing my eyes halfway and taking in a deep, slow breath of her scent. "Lets just say...the stories we were told as kids? The legends...well...well they're true. I'm not sure how much of them are true, but I know a lot are..."

"What do you mean?" she asked me confused as she looked up at my face.

"You have no idea how tightly I'm bound here Bells. But I...I apologize, for running out on you that night. I couldn't help it, something was wrong with me. I'd been feeling different all day that day. And I know it's not an excuse, I should have told you I felt off. But I wanted that night more than I've wanted anything in a long, long time. But...but you aren't just who I want...I need you..." I said in a soft voice, closing my eyes halfway.

Taking in a deep breath, I didn't let her speak before I continued. "I need you like the air I breathe. Just...believe that, okay? And I know I hurt you...and now I know I'll probably spend my entire life making up for that mistake."

"Where do you think I'll let you?" she asked, her eyes meeting mine as she cupped her injured hand tightly against her chest. "I...I haven't forgiven you Jake, and I don't know that I can. I came here to get closure and you're not making this easy! First you tell me I should go home and forget you, and now you're telling me that you're sorry?"

My heart thumped hard in my chest at her words, at the idea of her leaving me. "Please Bells. Look, come to Sam's with me and I can explain there...it might seem a bit strange if I explain without their help."

"Sam? Sam Uley? Didn't you tell me you were afraid of him before?"

"But it's not like that anymore, I was wrong about him. He's trying to _help_ me, help all of us." I said as I reached for her non-injured hand. "At least let me look at that hand...please Bella. I love you, and if you still love me you'll hear me out."

Of course I wanted her to hear me out now. Now that I knew she was my imprint, the one I couldn't live without. The idea of a world without Bella had always seemed so foreign to me, but even more now.

She pulled her hand back and shook her head. "No Jake. No. I...I've got to go alright?" she said as she pulled herself into her truck, starting it and quickly pulling away before she could change her mind.

And now it was _me_ watching _her_ run away. I fell down onto my knees in the soggy grass as I looked up at her truck as it slowly disappeared down the road. My chest heaved painfully as I watched her go. I could hear my inner-wolf howling and screaming for me to run after her, to ensure her safety. Her safety was now my top priority.

But I knew I shouldn't do that. She needed space, and I'd give it to her as best as I was able. But I needed to work on that apology. After sitting on my knees for a moment I pushed up and stormed off into the woods. Maybe Sam would be able to help me out. Or, maybe Emily would be the better one to talk to.

:-:-:

Bella's POV

I wasn't sure what was wrong with him but he was confusing me. My chest still hurt at the rejection of that night, and now my hand throbbed when I'd punched him in the face. How could his skin me so soft and pliant against my lips when he kissed me, yet hard enough to injure my hand when I punched him? It'd felt like I was hitting a brick wall, a solid and unmoving wall.

And I didn't know what to think. He'd been so insistent that I go home and forget about him until his eyes met mine. I'd seen such a change in his eyes as he gazed into mine. And then he'd crushed me to his chest as though he were attempting to hold the pieces he'd broken inside me together. For a moment it worked, I'd let it work. And then his lips touched mine in such a heated kiss. I'd always loved our kisses but this one was different. He kissed me with such intensity, such a need that left me breathless.

I knew I had to get out of there quickly after that. My heart wanted me to give into him. It'd be so easy just to melt into his kiss. But I knew I couldn't. I couldn't forgive him that easily, especially while he gave me round about answers to my questions about what was going on with him.

My hand stung as I held it to my chest and I wasn't even sure if it was broken or not, but a trip to the hospital seemed to be in order because moving my fingers hurt. So when I got out of La Push I turned the car towards the hospital.

As I drove my mind was on Jacob, on that encounter. He was so different now, he'd cut off all of his long hair which was odd, it was now cropped short. And he'd always been muscular but now he seemed even more muscular. He truly looked like one of Sam Uley's gang now and that scared me. Maybe I'd tell Charlie about that gang on the reservation especially if Sam was turning good kids like Jacob into this new version.

Slowly I pulled into the hospital parking lot, turning off the car and getting out. One perk of living in a small town is that the wait in the hospital was usually very short. I'd only been there for a minute before I was ushered into a small exam room and sat on the table to wait for the doctor.

When I heard the door open I was greeted by Carlisle Cullen. Smiling up at him. "Hello Doctor Cullen."

"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you here Bella. I see you hurt your hand this time? Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked as he looked at his clip board before walking up close to me. I held out my injured hand for him to inspect it and dropped my eyes down a bit.

"I um..." I said slowly, not quite sure what to say. Carlisle was a vampire right? He wouldn't find it so strange. "I punched Jacob Black in the face."

Carlisle looked up at me curiously. "Jacob Black? Isn't that your boyfriend? At least thats what I've been told..."

"Yes well, he _was_ my boyfriend. All until he walked out on me. I haven't seen him in weeks and Alice suggested I go talk to him. So...I did. And he kissed me, and I punched him in the face. But his face was weird, it was hard like punching a cement wall. How could someones face be that hard? Someone thats...human...after all?"

He inspected my hand carefully, asking me to move each fingers as he watched the movement of my hand. "It isn't broken. It's just bruised, but I'd suggest not punching people in the face anymore. I am going to prescribe you an ointment to put on it to make it heal faster and wrap it though." he said slowly, reaching into a drawer to get some things out. "And as for your question...you'd have to ask Jacob about that. I do not begin to know all of the worlds secrets."

I watched him for a moment as I chewed on my bottom lip just slowly. "But he's been acting weird. I don't know whats going on with those Quileute boys. Almost all of them have buffed up and changed." I said with a slow sigh as I closed my eyes halfway, looking down.

His fingers were gentle as he applied a cream to my knuckles and then slowly began to wrap my hand, and the soreness of my skin enjoyed his cold skin as he worked diligently. "Again, you should speak to Jacob." he said, looking up at me with a small smile. "I believe what Alice has told you is the correct advice. If he is ready to tell you then he shall."

Looking back down at our hands I watched as he finished up with my hand, his face looking at mine and giving me a small smile. "There you are. All bandaged. I'm glad you did come in to make sure it wasn't broken. But I believe you'll be fine." he said as he took a pad from a desk, writing a prescription for some ointment, ripping the piece of paper from the pad and handing it to me. "Get this filled and change the bandage after you've put the ointment on and you'll be good to go."

"Thank you Doctor Cullen." I said with a small smile. I liked the father of the Cullen family, he'd been very nice the two times I've met him.

He nodded to me as he moved to stand up. "You're very welcome. Now, be careful so I don't see you in here again anytime soon."

I laughed and nodded, sliding off the table to stand up. "I'll try." I said as I slowly walked out of the room, Doctor Cullen just a few steps behind me.

I drove myself home carefully and got dinner ready. Charlie had questioned me about my hand, but I brushed it off and said it was fine it wasn't broken. And that was the truth really. After insisting I was fine he finally let it go. And before I knew it I found myself sitting alone in my bedroom wearing my pajama pants and tank top, looking down at the bandage on my hand.

My whole body was exhausted. I was mentally and physically drained but I didn't want to go to sleep. I didn't want to face sleep right now. Though I felt my eyes droop a bit, my head jerked up as I heard a soft 'tap - tap' on my window. The taps acme one after another and I tilted my head to one side.

Slowly standing, I walked to the window and looked outside. There stood Jacob as he threw small pebbles at my window. Pulling the window up I looked out at him as I leaned against the window sill. "Jacob?"

"Stand back, I'm coming up."

I pouted at his words. Why did he think he had the right to come over to my house and state he was coming up to my room. "No you're not."

"Bells...please.." he pleaded as he looked up at me.

And the pleading in his eyes made me sigh and step back. I heard slight noise outside and suddenly Jacob was pulling himself through my window, standing in my room. A blush ran over my cheeks as I remembered the last time he'd been in my bedroom. And then I remembered the rejection and crossed my arms across my chest a bit tighter.

"Hey..." he said slowly, hesitantly.

I nodded, glancing up at him. "Hello. What are you doing here? Didn't I make it clear that I needed to get away from you?"

"You did. But...but I can't stay away from you..." he said with a sigh. Slowly stepping towards the bed, he sat on the very edge of it before looking up at my face. "You don't understand. I'd like you to. I really would..."

Slowly I sighed and stepped close to him, feeling his hands rest on my hips as I leaned his forehead against my chin. Reaching one hand up, running the fingers of my non-injured hand through his short hair slowly. That would take some getting used to, I'd liked his long hair...but this wasn't that bad. Though I had a feeling this was about more than just a haircut. "Then make me understand.." I whispered softly on his skin.

His fingers gripped my hips as he let out a sigh against me. "I want to. I want to tell you everything...but you have no idea..." he said slowly. Gently his arms moved around my waist and pulled me into his solid chest. His skin felt so warm, his warmth was bleeding through my clothes.

But one of his hands moved to take my bandaged one. Rubbing it carefully and he leaned to kiss my palm, making me blush. "Give me an idea then. Jake I...I've always loved you. I'm not going to promise I'll forgive you, no, but I do want to hear the explanation."

His hands moved up and down my back causing a sweet friction against my skin as I leaned back and looked down at him, meeting his eyes. He let out a sigh and rest his cheek against my shoulder and he felt so good up close to me, it was like I could even breathe easier with him so close.

"I'm drawn to you, connected to you...in more ways than before. When I looked into your eyes earlier today...I..." he started, swallowing a bit before he took in a slow breath against my skin. "I was afraid things would change, thats why I didn't call you back. I didn't want to draw you into the train wreck that has become my life. I was afraid I'd...connect with someone else and hurt you even more. It happened to Sam after he changed, he left Leah when he saw her and it crushed Leah..."

"Jake...you're not making any sense. Connected like how?"

Slowly he looked up at me and I could see the nervousness in his eyes. "Bella, I'm not sure how to tell you this...but...you've heard the legends of our tribe, right? Of my ancestors?"

"Yeah the original tribe. There are a lot of stories Jake..." I said slowly, thinking a bit as I looked at him. "Are you talking about the story of the Cold Ones?"

He let out a sad chuckle and looked away. "I suppose I should have known you'd remember that one specifically. Yes, that one. But...but remember the rest of the story Bells."

I scanned my mind as I thought back to some of the bonfires we'd attended where the elders of the tribe told the stories. I must have heard them dozens of times in my life, whenever the Elders were at a bonfire they usually used it as a time to educate the younger generation of the tribe stories.

And then it hit as I remembered of the story of Taha Aki and the Third Wife. Looking at him, I tilted my head to one side. "Wolves? Something about the Quileute's being descended from wolves..."

His eyes moved up to meet mine and he nodded. "Yes, we are." he said as his hands moved to rub my sides. "Whenever certain threats are in the area we cannot help but turn. And...that night...well, I didn't know what was going on. Sam helped me.."

Slowly I moved back from his arms, stepping back and looking up at him, tilting my head to one side. "Wolves? You're a wolf? Like...werewolf?" I asked hesitantly. When he nodded my eyes widened a bit. Could it be possible that all of the horror stories we were told as children were real? My throat was dry and I didn't know what to say. Part of me didn't want to believe it, another part of me said that Jake wouldn't lie to me.

When he stood up I looked at him and shook my head. "This...this is a lot to process..." I said in a soft voice.

And he stepped up to me, moving to rest his hands on my shoulders and leaning down to kiss my forehead and then the tip of my nose. "Trust me I know. Look, I need to get back before they find out I'm here. But...but come over tomorrow?"

"I don't know..."

"Please Bells? I love you...and I want the guys to meet you...I can prove it to you too. I won't hurt you, I couldn't possibly hurt you. I just need you.."

I let out a sigh as I looked down. "Maybe. I don't know. I'll think about it okay? Besides I...I have classes tomorrow.."

"Then come after class?" he suggested.

And I just shook my head, moving out of his arms and hugging myself tightly. "I don't know Jake. Maybe. Look, you should go I...I don't know how to deal with this right now. And I cannot just shrug off how much you hurt me."

"And it kills me that I hurt you. You are my world, you always have been and like I told you before I'll spend my entire life making that up to you. I just need another chance to show you just how much you mean to me." he insisted and when I looked up at him I saw it in his eyes.

But I just wasn't ready to forgive him that easily. "Look a maybe is all that I can give you, especially right now."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'm fine with that.." he said, leaning to press a slow lingering kiss against my temple before he walked back to the window.

I watched as he climbed out my window and it momentarily made me want to yell out to him. Rushing to the window just in time to see him walking away perfectly fine. How could he just jump out of a second-story window like that? It gave me a sigh of relief when I saw he was safe before I slid my window closed and moved to sit back on my bed.

Could it truly be real? Or was this just some strange dream I was having when I passed out, exhausted from todays events?

Laying back on my bed I reached to turn off the light and look up at the ceiling, my brain working overtime on what Jake had told me, wondering if I could believe him. And could I even forgive him if he wanted to get back together? We'd had fights before, but it wasn't anything like this. I still felt so rejected by him especially whenever I thought about the attempt at our first time.

And even as I slowly drifted to sleep I wasn't sure what would happen tomorrow, what my future would hold.

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A/N: Chapter = Fin!

And now, it took a bit longer than I thought because I got stuck after writing the hospital scene, while I was writing Jake showing up at Bellas. I went back and forth on if I wanted to have him tell her, if I wanted her to guess, or if I wanted to stick closer to the movies. Ultimately I picked what I did and I do have a few reasons. I wanted it to be different than the movies, and also in this Sam did give an Alpha command, but my idea is that the imprint would be the strongest pull. Combined with Jacob's heritage.

And I'll be working on the next chapter ASAP!

So...love it? Hate it? Wish it were different? Read and review! Let me know!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: So glad everyone liked that last chapter! This one took a bit longer than I'd expected too. Then again I had a busy Labor Day Weekend. And...this weekend is my Birthdaaay! Yayy :-D. So, after this update I'll attempt to get the next one out ASAP, but I might not get it out until sometime next week unless I can crank something out in the next couple of days...which I doubt lol.

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Chapter 6:

Bella's POV

I wasn't sure what to do about Jacob. I still loved him - of course I did - but could I trust that he wouldn't hurt me again? My whole heart screamed for me to just forgive him, to be with him again like we had been. But my brain said otherwise. Perhaps I would forgive him at some point, but I was definitely not going to immediate tell him that. I mean we'd had fights before, just nothing like this.

Sleeping hadn't been easy to come by. I'd tossed and turned in my sleep, stuck between dreams and nightmares. Nightmares where I'd been with Jake and he'd turned into a wolf in front of me, and then nightmares where this new thing in his life caused his death. I wasn't sure what I would do if something tore Jacob from this world completely.

But one thing I was sure of is that I was tired the next day. I sort of went through the motions like a blur. When Charlie asked if I was alright I brushed it off and said I couldn't sleep last night. That was partially true anyway because I didn't sleep well at all.

Sitting in class I didn't much pay attention to what the teacher was saying. I didn't even take notes like I had been doing even through my depression over Jake. And I didn't talk much at lunch, I wasn't in the talking mood. I sat picking at my food as I thought about it. A big part of me wanted to go over to Jakes after school today. I knew I would go, but I was hesitant about it. So much about our relationship had changed and some things I was sure I didn't even know.

I was startled when I felt Alice's hand on my shoulder at lunch, looking up at her. "Oh, oh I'm sorry, what?"

"I was asking if you talked to Jake yet because you seem even more out of it than normal..." she asked, concern written on her face. Not everyone was at the table quite yet but her and me, everyone else was in line and Edward had went to sit with Rosalie and Emmett today.

"Oh...oh yeah I talked to him..." I said slowly, shifting in my seat as I looked up at her, leaning in close so only she could hear me. "Did you know...what the Quileute's are?" I asked in a low voice.

Suddenly her face was serious and she just sighed and nodded. "I did, I do I mean. I didn't think Jake would be one of them, not everyone has the gene. But I take it he is?"

"Yeah and I just...don't know what to do with it."

She leaned against her elbow and rest her chin in her hand as she looked up at my face. "Want my advice? You love him, no matter what he is. I'm not saying I like the dogs there, they're our natural enemies, but sometimes love isn't black and white, if you really love someone you gotta accept them, flaws and all.." she said and she cast a loving smile over towards Jasper who sat at the Cullens usual table.

"I know...but I still don't know at the same time." I said, shifting in my seat and sitting back. Glancing over at the table and my eyes locked with Edwards. After a moment I quickly looked down at my lunch I hadn't touched yet.

"You just make a decision for you. Don't let anyone sway it. I know Edward likes you a lot. But you decide. If you want Jake then go for it, go hear him out and accept him, wolf and all. If you want Edward...well I'd love to have you as my sister, you already feel like a sister to me anyway.."

I gave her a thankful smile and nodded. "Thanks Alice. I appreciate it."

She returned my smile before she moved to stand up. "I'm going to go sit with Jasper...but let me know if you need to talk." she said, giving my shoulder a light squeeze before she walked towards her family. I watched for a moment as she moved to sit on Jaspers lap, her arms tangling around his neck and smiling lovingly at him.

I envied her as I remembered what Alice had said about vampire and their mates. Vampires knew who their mates were when they saw them, there wasn't really any room for insecurities like the ones I was having. While I knew that I wanted to be with Jake I just wasn't sure what to do with this little fact that he was a werewolf. But if Jake was the same person why couldn't I rebuild our relationship? Love was supposed to be unconditional, and I was pretty sure that I loved him like that. It was just my self-esteem and my trust that I needed to build back up.

The rest of the day I continued to be quiet as I contemplated what I should do. In the end I knew I'd go over to La Push so spending time worrying about it didn't make too much sense. Though I wasn't looking forward to biology, to seeing Edward. He'd embarrassed me with that kiss a couple of weeks ago and ever since it'd felt awkward between the two of us. Sure he attempted to talk to me several times but I just brushed it off and tried to look away whenever possible. I did not want to open that can of worms, and I did not want him to think I was okay with him kissing me, especially when I'd been so messed up about Jacob.

Thankfully though I got through class with little trouble. We'd had a lab and chatted briefly, but he oddly seemed to either be respecting my space, or just afraid to mention it.

And when classes ended I went out to my truck and headed straight to La Push, towards Jacob. My heart was thudding in my chest as I drove, staring forward at the road ahead of me. Today would be a big day in our relationship and I knew it was a big thing that I decided to actually show up. Part of me knew that Jake wasn't sure if I would or not.

Slowly I pulled up to the front of the Black family house, staring at the small house as I turned my truck off, remembering what happened just yesterday. The way he'd looked at me and kissed me had been so intense and it made me shiver a bit just thinking about it. But no, today I would not let myself get lost in his lips, I wanted to get some answers.

Before I could even get out of the truck I saw Jacob coming out of the house. He moved up to me so quickly it made me squeal when his arms wrapped around me, sweeping me out of the truck and off my feet. I laughed a bit as I looked up at his smiling face, the face of _my_ Jake.

"Jake! Put me down." I laughed a bit.

"Nope." he said with a grin, holding me up against his chest with his arms wrapped underneath my butt.

I couldn't help my smile as I shook my head, my arms moving around his neck. "What are you just going to carry me all afternoon?"

"Dunno, maybe. Sounds good to me." he said as he pushed the door to my truck closed and headed towards the house.

It felt good to be in his arms again, but I needed him to talk to me. "Jake...come on put me down, I can walk you know. And we have things to talk about."

"Alright." he said with a small whine and put me down. But his arm moved around my shoulders and pulled me close to his chest, almost like he couldn't bare me to be too far away from him. "But in a bit we're going over to Emily's for dinner and you'll meet my brothers."

I looked up at him curiously. "Brothers? Jake you only have two sisters.."

He laughed and shook his head. "No, they're not brothers like that. Thats what we call our pack members, our brothers."

It was so odd listening to him talk about things like that so freely. He seemed a lot more free to talk about things now. But I had to get used to it, I mean he was a werewolf after all. That fact still made me uncomfortable, after all it hadn't even been a full day since he told me.

Instead of going into the house Jake lead me towards the garage where we usually hung out, his arm firm around my shoulders. "So...I guess you have a lot of questions huh?" he asked, glancing down at me as we got into the garage.

Leaning back from him I moved to lean against the rabbit, sighing and hugging myself as I nodded. "Kind of. Like...like how does this...work? I mean...you're a werewolf?"

He leaned against the car beside me and nodded. "Yeah I am. Something had been up with me for a few days before that night. My skin had been getting warmer. I now run around 110 degrees. And things had just become more...defined, my muscles you know. I wasn't sure what was going on but nothing that weird happened. And then that night...we were together and I just felt all these emotions. My whole body felt hot and I felt strange. It's different for everyone. I'd gotten the anger problems most of the week beforehand, but I was really good at not showing it to you...I didn't want you to worry because I wasn't sure what was going on myself.. Sam told me what triggered his was when he got so angry, but it could be any extreme emotion...including passionate ones..."

When his voice trailed off I blushed a bit, remembering just what we'd been doing before he left. Slowly I looked up at him and he met my eyes with a small smile.

"I love you Bells. The only thing that triggered it was that I felt _too_ much that night. I've been learning to control it. At first I phased when I got too angry and I couldn't risk doing that to you. You see...Emily, Sam's fiance, well...Sam once got angry in an argument with her. And...and he phased and hurt her, a lot. I didn't want to do that to you. And then I just thought it'd be better if you continued on without me because I'm still not good. But now...now I couldn't stay away from you if I wanted to, even if it would be for your own good. I cannot be without you.."

His voice was slow as he spoke and he moved one hand up to brush through my hair. "Why now? What changed? I mean I know you changed because you're... _this_ now. But you said you can't stay away now. So if I decided this wasn't a good idea...what would you do?"

He paused for a moment as he seemed to think about it, think about just what he wanted to tell me about. "If you told me to go away...well, I would. But that doesn't mean I'd be far. I need to make sure you're safe, I need to ensure you're happy and protected..."

"But why?" I asked. It almost seemed like this part is what he didn't want to tell me.

I watched as he took in a deep breath and turned to lean his side on the car, looking down at me. "When I looked into your eyes yesterday...I imprinted on you." he explained simply, as though that foreign word explained everything. And perhaps it would, if I knew what it meant.

Tilting my head to one side I crossed my arms across my chest a bit tighter. "Imprinted? What is that?"

"It's a wolf thing. Every wolf has their imprint, or their mate. And we know who our mate is when we look into their eyes for the first time after becoming a wolf. It was part of why I was afraid to see you. I was afraid you weren't my imprint and I'd eventually hurt you in the end. You see...Sam, our Alpha, his fiance Emily is his imprint. But he was with someone else before that. And when he saw Emily...everything changed. He'd hurt his ex so much and I didn't want to do that to you..."

Slowly his hand moved to rest on my shoulder, rubbing and squeezing just lightly. His touch was so gentle and I could feel the warmth of his skin even through my shirt and jacket. But I looked up at him waiting for him to continue, to explain.

"You see, imprinting is like...when you see your mate for the first time your whole world shifts. Its an intense feeling, an intensity that I didn't realize just how intense it felt until yesterday. But...its like...she's your world now, everything. Gravity doesn't hold you to this earth, she does...she becomes your gravity. You would do anything, be anything for her. Her safety becomes your top priority. So...if you ordered me away...well, it'd kill me but I'd do it. I'll be whatever you need Bells, even if its just a friend..."

His voice sounded sad at the idea of just being my friend. And honestly that didn't sound all that good to me either. Even after what had happened I wanted to be with him, to be a couple like we'd always planned on it. Now that I knew the reason behind his rejection that night I was starting to think our future wasn't completely gone. Maybe he could still be a mechanic and I could still be a teacher.

But I wouldn't tell him that, not yet anyway. Maybe I'd let him stew on it for a bit. Though I wasn't that much of a vindictive person, I knew I'd probably give up sooner rather than later.

"Imprinting huh? You..you imprinted on me?"

He nodded, his eyes on mine still. "As soon as I looked into your eyes. I must have freaked you out yesterday when I hugged you, I realized that. But I just felt all these emotions and I needed to have you close to me. You're my other half...as corny as that sounds its true. When a wolf imprints its for life."

"So...so why now? Why are you a wolf now? Things were perfect before.." I asked slowly. I was trying not to linger on the fact that he'd said wolves imprint for life. It sounded almost exactly like what Alice had been telling me about vampires knowing their mates as soon as they see each other. Could it really be that easy for me? If it could be then...Jacob was my mate.

And I realized I could let it be that easy. I could easily lose myself in Jake since I already loved him. It would be as easy as breathing to welcome him back with open arms.

"Because...whenever there is a threat nearby our gene kicks in and we turn in order to protect our loved ones, to protect the tribe."

"Threat? What threat?"

"The bloodsuckers...leeches, vampires whatever you want to call them.." he said as he moved one arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side. "You know them. The Cullens. You had to have figured it out by now. What I don't get is why you still hang out with them. It's not safe..."

I pouted and shook my head. "The Cullens are my friends."

"They're vampires. And I do not want you around them."

At his statement I leaned from his arms, stepping back from him and glaring at him. "Jacob Black you will not begin to tell me who to make friends with. You are not the boss of me and if you want to be with me you'll have to realize that."

He sighed as he watched me, shaking his head. "I can't help it. You're my imprint, I want you to be safe...and vampires are _not_ safe. We have a treaty with the Cullens. They do not hunt on our land and do not hurt humans and we leave them be. But they're still vampires! They're still capable of hurting people, _killing_ people."

"They won't hurt me. Especially Alice who is my friend. They're not like other vampires. And if you're going to be stubborn about my friendship then I should just leave now.." I said, slowly starting to step away from him.

But he caught my wrist and moved to take my hand, squeezing it lightly and sighed. "I'm sorry baby...please don't go, I need you. I'm just worried is all. I'll always be worried. They're our natural enemies."

I glanced over at him with a pout, shaking my head. "You know...Alice Cullen, well she encouraged me to talk to you. To accept you for what you are. And you're here talking bad about them."

"I said I can't help it! Come on, they're my natural enemy. Them being here turned me into...into _this_..." he sneered with a slight growl coming from his throat. "Them being here caused my life to unravel, caused me to nearly leave you. I can't promise I'll like them but I can promise I won't try telling you that you can't see them..."

Thinking about that for a moment I realized that was probably the best I would get. I let out a deep sigh before I stepped up to him, giving into the urge I'd felt since I saw him and I let my arms circle his waist, pressing up close to him and resting my cheek against the warm skin of his chest. Once his arms circled me I let out a contended sigh and closed my eyes. _Home_. Home was still in his arms.

"Does...does this mean we'll be okay?" he asked hesitantly while his chin rested on the top of my head and he held me tighter.

"It means we'll try to be okay. It's a lot to process..."

He chuckled. "Tell me about it." he muttered against my hair as I felt his chin move so his cheek could lean against my head. "I love you Isabella Marie Swan." he whispered softly just to me.

And a smile moved over my lips as I nodded. "I love you too...Jacob Ephraim Black." I said with a smile. "Just...quit being an idiot, okay?"

This made him laugh a bit more and he shrugged. "I'll try. I'm a teenage boy who morphs into a giant wolf so by default I'll probably be an idiot sometimes."

An idea made my eyes light up and I smiled, looking up at him. "So...a giant wolf huh? How big?"

"Pretty big...a bit taller than you actually." he said, looking hesitantly down into my eyes.

"Show me." I insisted. I wanted to see this, but part of me also _needed_ to see, in order to reassure myself that this was real.

The smile faded from him and he sighed, rubbing my arms. "I'm not sure thats such a good idea.."

"Nonsense. I want to see." I said, leaning to kiss his cheek. "Please?"

"But...but what if I hurt you?"

"You're not going to hurt me." I insisted, rubbing his back a little. "I trust you."

After a moment of him seeming to think about it he nodded. Leaning down he placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth before he stepped back and took my hand, leading me out of the back of the garage. He led me out a bit into the forest into the tree cover. It was always beautiful on La Push, but now my heart pounded in my chest in anticipation. I was going into the woods to watch my boyfriend turn into a giant wolf.

He chuckled as he walked. "Try not to be so excited while I'm nervous Bells." he said and I looked at him curiously. How could he tell how I was feeling?

"Don't be nervous.." I managed to say and squeezed his hand. The question of how lingered in my mind but I did not voice it. Instead I just walked with him until the trees weren't so thick.

When we got to the spot he was thinking about he stopped and turned to me. Bringing both of my hands to his lips he kissed my knuckles and I smiled at the sweetness of it. He didn't say a word as he let go and backed up, motioning for me to stay where he was. He moved far enough away and a blush spread over my cheeks as I saw him start undoing his khaki shorts. I'd seen him naked before yeah but I wasn't quite sure why he was getting naked now.

I watched as he undid his shorts and slid them down, kicking his shoes off. A blush was on my cheeks as my eyes lingered at _certain_ parts of my boyfriends body.

He gave a small chuckle. "Maybe later Bells." he said with a wink and my eyes shot up to his face, wide. "Wolf senses, remember." he said, pointing at his nose. And then he threw his shorts to me. "Hold these for me huh?" he asked.

And I could only nod while I picked up his shorts, holding them in one hand. Oh god, had he been able to _smell_ just how his body affected me? I was mortified.

But I didn't have time for that emotion for too long. And I saw it, suddenly no longer was it my boyfriend standing there, but I watched as he turned into a wolf...a _huge_ wolf. He wasn't kidding just how big he stood. I watched for a moment in fascination, not quite sure if I should get close to him or not. If this were a wild animal I definitely wouldn't...but this was Jake, my Jake.

He stood there in his wolf form for a moment, looking at me and I could see the emotions in his eyes. My Jacob was still in there. Maybe him and this wolf were the same thing in a way, just another piece of him.

Hesitantly he moved to step forward towards me, dipping his head as his eyes looked up at mine. Lightly my hand moved out to brush along the soft russet fur of his head. It was as soft as it looked and he pressed his head into my hand a little while his eyes looked up at mine still.

I gave him a slow smile and leaned close to him, resting my cheek against his furry one. I couldn't help but giggle as he wrapped his head around me to pull me against him. Smiling, looking up at his face. "Jake." I said in a light giggle. Slowly running my fingers along his fur, relishing in how warm and soft he felt against my skin.

I had expected to be freaked out upon seeing him, but I wasn't freaked out. I was truthful when I'd told him that I trusted him, I did trust him. Even though I was upset with him I knew he wouldn't hurt me, physically at least. And I felt at ease as I stood close to him even with him phased like this. It felt oddly comforting too, I knew without a doubt I was safe from harm like this with him there. After all if imprinting was a real thing Jake wouldn't let anything hurt me.

Jacob looked at me before he lowered down to lay more on the ground, motioning with his head. It took me a minute to think about what he was motioning to and I blinked.

"You want me to climb on your back?" I asked and he just nodded his head. I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of it. "You're crazy..."

But his muzzle pressed against my legs, lightly nudging me to go. It seemed like such a ridiculous idea but Jacob seemed to be all for it. I shook my head even as I stepped towards him, carefully moving to climb onto his back. Resting my hands on his fur as I settled in, still holding his shorts in one hand.

It jolted me a bit when he carefully rose to his feet, making me sway a little on his back. I looked around once I was sure I wouldn't fall. "Wow, it's so high up..." I observed and he tilted his head to look back at me. A smile moved over my lips, I could see amusement in his eyes.

And when he started walking my fingers gripped his fur, though instantly I was afraid of hurting him by pulling on his fur. Though it didn't seem to bother me as he jogged along the forest floor, being careful of the trees around us. I still had to duck since we were up so high as not to hit branches. It felt nice to be close to Jacob like this, like a strange new intimacy. He'd brought me into this world of his. Granted I'd had to insist and he had to imprint on me before he did...but still, he did. And I was grateful, hoping there would be no more secrets between the two of us.

We walked slowly until we got to the coastline. I sat up on his back and looked out over the beach as he walked down onto the sand. Once we got closer to the shore Jacob knelt down so I could slide off his back, standing in the smooth sand of the beach, holding his shorts up against my stomach as I looked at him.

Once I was off his back Jacob moved back from me before he morphed back into his human self. I gave him a slight smile and threw his shorts at him, which he caught and pulled on.

Excitedly he moved up to me, hugging me tightly up to his chest with a happy grin. "That was fun. I never thought I'd be able to be that free around you. I didn't scare you did I?"

Quickly I shook my head, looking up at him with a small smile. "No you didn't scare me. It was oddly fun.."

He chuckled, kissing my temple and holding me against his side. Moving so he just had one arm around my shoulders we started walking down the beach, feeling the sand move and give way beneath my feet.

My arm moved around his waist back as we walked and I smiled softly, glancing up to watch the waves crash into the beach just a few feet from us. I liked watching and listening to the waves, it was always calming. And now with Jacob holding me close I didn't even feel the chill of the wind as it whipped around us from the sea.

Taking a stroll down the beach with my boyfriend was something so normal. We'd walked this beach hundreds of times over the years, I knew this beach like the back of my hand. It was so normal, something we'd do even before this change and I relished in the normalcy of it.

Jacobs hand rubbed my shoulder as we walked slowly, his eyes down on the beach. "So...you almost ready to meet my brothers? Or do you have more questions?"

"I have plenty of questions...just...not quite sure how to word them..." I said in a soft voice, looking up to his face. "You said Sam was your alpha?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yeah he is. He's an asshole sometimes. We're just like real wolf packs with one alpha. When he gives an alpha command we have to listen. He's helped me through a lot...he helps us all through the change and teaches us how to control it so we aren't changing when we're angry anymore."

"Did he...tell you not to talk to me?"

A guilty look flashed over his face before he sighed. "Sort of. Well it wasn't an order, he just suggested it. Until I could control myself. He said it was whats best for both of us so I didn't get angry and phase out on you. And...part of it was my own fear. Fear that you wouldn't be my imprint, that I'd get with you and one day run into my real imprint and end up hurting you..." he said slowly before his eyes raised to mine. "I hated being away from you...and like I said I'll spend every day of the rest of my life making that up to you."

I sighed as I stopped our walking, my eyes staring up to his. "You could have called me...or answered the phone. I just felt so...rejected."

As I spoke he stepped up to me and cupped my face, looking into my eyes. "I'm very sorry for that. Know that...you're the only girl I've ever wanted, ever since we were kids. Ever since I knew what relationships were all about. I've known you since the day I was born and I've only ever saw you. I was so afraid of hurting you...I'm still afraid of hurting you.." he said softly, his thumb trailing over the right side of my face.

"You won't hurt me...and you promise you'll tell me things now right? I want no secrets."

"I promise." he stated, leaning down to place a light kiss on my lips and making me smile.

Standing there for a minute I relished in the feel of Jacobs warm arms sliding around my waist, his fingers tracing patterns on the small of my back. There was nowhere else I would rather be right now. But Jacob, unfortunately, pulled me back to reality by leaning back from me. "Come on, the guys should be at Sam and Emily's by now. It's almost dinner time...and, frankly, I'm starving."

That statement made me laugh and I took his hand, letting him lead the way towards our destination. Part of me was hesitant to meet Sam and Emily. Of course I'd seen them both around the reservation before but they were older, and Sam could be a bit scary too. I wasn't sure how this new dynamic would really work.

The walk to Sam and Emily's was silent, but it wasn't an awkward silence. Comfortable silence flowed between us as I held his hand and walked just beside him. I missed his level of comfort that Jake and I always had.

Once we got to the house I looked up at it. It was a nice little house with a porch and what not, it looked like a lot of other houses on the reservation, small but cozy. I really liked the small and cozy look the houses had, and I'd always thought that I'd love a house like this on the rez, small and cozy.

We walked up and Jacob moved through the door before me and I reluctantly followed, standing just behind Jake and looking around. The scene that greeted us looked like a strange family. Boys wearing only shorts with tanned skin, rippling muscles and dark hair sat around a table. There were three of them sitting there. And then a woman was bringing a platter of food over to the table.

"Alright you boys hungry?" she said happily. The platter was piled high with all sorts of food, chicken and potatoes and corn. From first look she was beautiful with the same tanned skin and dark hair with a lovely face. But when she looked up at me I noticed the scars that covered one side of her face. She gave us a small warped smile as she looked at him. "So...you must be Bella. Welcome. Pull up a chair and help yourself. My name is Emily." she said happily.

Jacob smiled to me and kissed the back of my hand before walking to the table. "Bells, this is Paul, Jared and you know Embry." he introduced, each guy waving a bit as they piled their plates high of food and started to dig in.

But Emily shot them a look. "Boys, mind your manners. Save some for your brothers, and for Bella too." she said, stepping over to me with that smile again. "You'll have to forgive them. You'll get used to how they eat. Welcome to the pack." she said sweetly, giving me a tight warm hug before stepping away and towards the kitchen.

I watched the scene for a moment, taking in this strange family before I smiled and nodded. Following Emily I leaned against the island and looked at her. "Is there anything I can help with..? I'm a pretty good cook."

"No no, you're our guest and new to the pack. Besides I'm used to it all. Maybe one day when you and Jake have a house you can host these dinners sometimes. It'll be nice having another imprint."

"There are no other girlfriends or anything?" I asked curiously, glancing over to watch the guys eat. Jacob had taken his place at the table with his brothers and was digging in, I couldn't help but laugh. He ate so enthusiastically now it made me smile.

"No, so far Sam and Jacob are the only two that have imprinted. Most of the guys don't date that seriously." Emily answered as she busied herself in the kitchen.

And I moved to help her, taking plates out to the boys and drinks before walking back towards Emily. "Do they always eat like that?"

She laughed and stood to watch for a moment before she nodded. "Mmhm they do. They have a...lets call it healthy appetite." she said with a loving smile before she looked up at me. "How are you handling all of this? It's quite a lot to absorb."

"Yeah it is a lot. I'm...handling. It's a lot to process."

"It really is. When Sam first imprinted on me he didn't tell me right away. But eventually he did. I was angry that he didn't say anything at first...but eventually he did. It took a while to get used to. It still is a bit surreal sometimes."

I nodded as I listened to her, sighing a bit. "We're working on things. But I love him...wolf and all..." I said as I glanced over at my wolf, smiling as his eyes looked up to meet mine and he returned my smile, motioning me to come over as he stuffed some chicken into his mouth.

Shaking my head I walked over to him and he took my hand, pulling me to sit on his lap with his arm around my waist. But that didn't stop him from eating and I laughed. "Jake, you're a pig now."

My statement made everyone laugh, even Emily as Jake rubbed my side. "I'm a growing boy Bells."

I shook my head again and reached to take a piece of chicken from his plate, looking back at him with a slight smile. "Uh huh, if you say so."

"Oh he is though." Embry chimed in between bites. "I was glad he imprinted on you though Bella. I missed you."

"I missed you too Embry." I said with a smile, looking up at him.

"Quil's gunna change soon too you know..." Embry mentioned, his eyes darkening a moment and the light leaving his face. I glanced back to Jacob and saw the same sad look on his face.

Gently I moved my hand to rub Jacob's shoulders. "Whats the matter?"

"Well...I don't wish this on my friend. On nobody. So much changed that day...and sometimes I think we all wish we could go back to how things were, normal." he explained.

And Embry nodded as he swallowed the food in his mouth. "It's always a bittersweet thing when a brother joins the pack..."

I nodded as I listened to them, understanding. I remembered how upset Jake was when Embry had left to join Sam and he hadn't known why. Quil must feel completely alone, and my heart hurt a bit for him. But soon he'd be our brother.

Wait...did I just think that? Did I think of these guys as my brothers too? Well, yes, yes I did. Because they were my brothers since I was with Jake.

Sitting around the table with the guys was fun. I liked Jared and Paul, and I'd always liked Embry. I didn't bother getting my own plate though, I'd just pick off of Jacobs. At first it made him give me a playful glare but then he just laughed it off and let me do what I wanted. I was liking Emily too, she was nice and treated me like a sister.

After we finished eating though I saw Emily stand up to start clearing some of the empty plates. So I stood up to help. Taking Jakes empty plate along with Embry and Paul's into the kitchen with me and helping her clean up. Though Emily looked up at me and smiled. "You don't have to help."

"I want to." I insisted and she just shrugged and smiled.

"Well, be my guest. The rest of the pack will be here to eat the leftovers. Sam is out patrolling. He should be home soon.." she said, looking up at the clock anxiously. I wondered if I would start worrying over Jake being out on patrol and realized that yeah I probably would.

I helped Emily clean up some plates and when I heard the door open I looked up to see Sam Uley walk in. He'd always intimidated me, but I refused to be intimidated this time. I belonged here.

Sam walked up to Emily, nodding to the guys as he passed and moved his arms around her waist, kissing her temple. When she smiled he gave her a smile back and kissed her all over the scarred side of her face. It was so cute, they were cute. Part of me had wondered what happened to her face...but I wasn't one of those people that would stare and whisper. Emily was nice to me so I would treat her just the same.

After he'd finished kissing her Sam looked up at me, his smile gone, and nodded. "Hello Bella."

"Hi Sam..." I said softly. And I felt Jakes arm move around my waist and it put me at ease, not so nervous.

"Glad you met the boys. Welcome to the pack." he said gruffly, his arms still around Emily.

His welcome startled me for a moment, I'd thought he would be upset at me for some reason. But it seemed as though he accepted it. Maybe there was something to this imprinting thing. "Thanks.." I said slowly with a slight smile.

He nodded, kissing Emily's cheek again before he moved to grab a plate of food. "Jake remember you got patrol tonight."

"Yeah yeah. I know." Jacob said, squeezing my waist a little. "We trade off nights." he whispered in explanation to me and I just nodded as he hugged me close.

"So, Bella..." Sam began to say as he took a seat at the table, glancing up at me. "I hear you're friends with the leeches..."

For a moment I had no idea what he was talking about and then I remembered the Cullens. "Ah...ah yeah, they go to my school..."

"Well, you'll have to stop that now. Our pack does not make friends with leeches." he stated as he ate.

Though Emily shot him a look and lightly hit his shoulder. "Now Sam, you cannot order Bella around like the wolves. Apologize." she said, and it warmed my heart to hear her defend me.

"No, it's the principle. Wolves and leeches do not get along, they're our natural enemy. I'm sure Jake doesn't want her hanging out with them."

"No offense Sam, but Jake can speak for himself." Jacob chimed in, his arm squeezing me lightly. "I don't see the harm in it. I don't _like_ it, no. But she sees them at school, whats the harm?"

Sam shot Jacob a look and shook his head. "The harm? They're _vampires_. We cannot trust them."

"Yeah well I can. And nobody tells me what I can and cannot do. It's my life and if I want to be friends with people like Alice Cullen...well thats my business." I insisted, crossing my arms across my chest.

And Sam looked back at me, his eyes seeming to gauge me, judge me as I stood there. "Fine. But if they break the treaty we'll hunt them down." he said grumpily as he dug into his food.

It all just made me roll my eyes and look back towards Jacob. "Can we had back to your house? It's getting late..."

"Yeah sure Bells." Jacob said as he took my hand. We walked out of the house and I was only marginally aware of Emily's soft apology to me. But I did glance back to her giving Sam a not so nice look. Good, he was in trouble.

So far the pack wasn't that bad. Sam would take some getting used to though. As we walked I smiled as Jacob playfully swung our hands back and forth in a childlike manner. After a moment it made me laugh and look up at him to see him smile.

"What're you doing?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Dunno. Just seemed like fun." he said. Gently he used his hand and twirled me close to his chest like we were dancing. It made me laugh again as I leaned into his chest, his arm now around my shoulders and my hand still holding his.

I smile contentedly against his side as we walked through the reservation and towards his house as it got darker and darker around us. We took a different path though, we didn't go along the beach but used more of the small trails. Though I knew we still had a lot to talk about, a lot of questions I wanted to ask him...for now I was alright with just walking quietly with him and being close to him. I didn't need more right now.

Even as we got back to his house and he kissed me goodbye I knew we were making progress. I was content and I still loved him a great deal. We would be okay eventually, we were on the road there.

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A/N: Anndd Chapter Fin! :-D.

I liked writing this chapter, it was fun. As I said earlier the next chapter will be out as soon as I'm finished writing it. Probably sometime early next week. I have a good idea of where I want the next chapter to go.

I thank all my readers for their reviews. Please keep reading and reviewing to give me your feedback.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Kay, so I admit this chapter might be the slightest bit mushy. I wanted to write something cute and mushy for Jake's birthday since, well, its my birthday and I'm in the mood - haha. A twist may or may not be in the end though. More vampires _will_ make an appearance in this! Though...not in this chapter haha.

I had a couple of events planned and it took me a while to figure out just in what order to make those events. But I've figured out since and there will be a small twist in this chapter. I'll explain the author notes at the end of this chapter.

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Chapter 7:

Bella's POV

I enjoyed my new relationship with Jacob. In many ways it was the same as it had always been but in others it was very different. He was different and yet the same and I was learning this new aspect of him. He'd answer my questions thoughtfully whenever I had something to ask him and I was enjoying that.

Spending time with Jacob was great, though I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with him as I wanted. He had to patrol a lot. Between his patrolling, school, side job and my school and job at Newtons Outfitters...I didn't get to see him often.

But I was planning something for Jakes birthday. It was only a short time after we'd gotten back together but I sort of wanted to do something special for him. We weren't a couple that did big gifts for one another, I much preferred when it was something sentimental. One year for my birthday Jacob had made me a dreamcatcher, and for a few birthdays he'd carved me something and once he gave me a bracelet he'd made from beads.

My gifts usually revolved around food. I'd make Jacob a nice dinner and a box of his favorite sweets that I handmade. Once I did make a scrapbook of our first trip to Arizona to visit my mom. We did a lot of different things for our birthdays. But this one I wanted to make special since we were back together in this, wolf and all.

I'd talked to Sam and got him to give Jacob the day off patrolling period. He would have no wolf duties on January 14th and we'd have the day together.

So I planned for us to have a nice day together and a dinner on the beach that I'd packed beforehand. It was a simple day, but it'd be great. And when I drove to Jakes house around noon I was excited. I'd made sure to bring the basket with our food and a blanket. I'd even baked a cake for us to have with his father later. I'd been making his birthday cakes for years anyway and that was tucked securely on the floor of my passengers seat.

Pulling up to the Black house I parked my truck and got out. I barely got out before I felt Jakes arms around me pulling me into a bear hug making me laugh. "Well, Happy Birthday Jake." I said as I leaned to kiss him, looking up at his face. His face was lit up with the happiest smile and I was glad to see that.

"Thanks Bells. It's amazing now that you're here."

I smiled and nodded. "Well good. Help me take this stuff inside? The cake should go into the fridge."

His eyes lit up even more at the idea of one of my cakes, which made me giggle. Quickly he walked around to the passengers seat and took the cake to begin taking it inside. I grabbed the basket and the small birthday bag that held his present. I didn't do anything fancy, but I was sure he'd love it.

We walked up to the house and I smiled at Billy in the living room. "Afternoon Billy."

"Hello Bella. You made the cake I see. Glad you could come."

"Don't I always? What would a birthday be without my chocolate cake?" I asked with a smile.

Billy returned my smile and nodded to me. "It wouldn't be much of a birthday." he said as he wheeled towards me. I bent down to give him a soft hug.

I still remembered when Billy Black wasn't in a wheelchair, before his accident. The same accident that had taken Sarah Blacks life. I remembered that like it were yesterday, losing Sarah had been like losing my own mother. We'd still been young then, around ten years old. Billy and Sarah had been out on a date night and Jake had been spending the night at my house. When my father had gotten the call that a drunk driver in Port Angeles had struck the passengers side of the car it was horrible.

The memory of Jacob crying over his mothers death was painful, a knife twisted in my heart. I'd cried too but I'd been there holding Jake while he was upset. I attended the funeral that laid Sarah to rest next to Jake, holding his hand. And I'd been there as he dealt with Billy's handicap. I still loved Billy like a father too and losing Sarah had been hard on the whole Black family.

And ever since Rachel and Rebecca had moved out I sort of took care of the two Black boys along with my own dad. I was always cooking extra to send home with Jake for him and his father, or spending days at their house and making sure they got a decent meal. Jake and his dad weren't good at cooking and when Rachel and Rebecca had gone to college I couldn't help but worry about them.

Smiling to Billy, I walked to sit the basket in the kitchen and moved to hug Jake around the waist, putting his birthday present down on the counter. I saw him eye the present anxiously and it made me laugh. "No Jake, no presents yet." I said, lightly pulling him with me into the living room.

"Aw come on Bells. Dad won't give me his yet either."

"Because Bella was not here. You can have patience son." Billy said.

I laughed at Billys words and nodded. "Yeah, you can have patience." I said, squeezing his waist a little. "You have all day. Sam let you have the day off, right?"

"Mmhm yeah. Surprised me actually..."

A grin moved over my lips and I nodded. "Yeah well, your girlfriend may have had a talk with him and said you belong to her today." I said, patting his stomach lightly.

He looked down at me and blinked. "Wow...you did that? Sam scares most people, especially those that aren't in the pack. I mean he's my Alpha but he's my brother so he's not as scary.."

I shrugged. "Sam doesn't scare me. Not much scares me you know. He's big and buff and looks scary...but he's not really. After all he's not _my_ Alpha. He has zero control over me."

Jacob laughed and hugged me tight against his chest. "Thats my Bells. Not afraid of anything, not even a big bad werewolf and a coven of vampires."

I couldn't help but laugh along with him, shaking my head. "Now, the vampires aren't that bad and I'm a wolfs imprint so why should I be scared? And before you say anything... _those specific_ vampires aren't that bad. Others can be I'm sure. Why else would we humans need big bad protectors?"

He grinned and shrugged, kissing my temple slowly. "Just so you know...we wolves have laws yeah...but our most absolute law is that once a wolf imprints...that imprint cannot be harmed. It's the most absolute and sacred law. Whoever a wolf imprints on cannot be harmed. Because...because Bells, if you die...I die too."

At his words he squeezed me to his side and pressed his lips slowly to the top of my head. Part of me didn't realize imprinting was that deep of a thing. Looking up at him and blinking slowly. "You die too? No..no Jake I wouldn't want you to die if something happened to me. Thats just...thats insane."

He gave me a soft smile and for a moment I even forgot Billy was in the room with us. Lightly his hand moved to cup my cheek, brushing his thumb over my skin slowly. "You're my gravity Bells. Without you what do I have to hold me to this world?"

"Your friends, your family, your pack..." I listed.

But he shook his head, pressing his lips to mine lightly. "Don't worry about it. Nothing is going to kill you anyway, not while you have me around. You were wrong too...you _are_ part of this pack as much as me."

A blush moved over my cheek and I heard Billy clearing his throat, making me jump and laugh. "Right, yeah sorry Billy. Hey Jake, no more morbid talk. You wanna open your presents now?" I ask, glancing towards Billy. "If thats alright with you."

"Fine with me. I'll be right back." he said, starting to wheel back towards his room.

And Jake nodded, once his father was gone he pulled me flush against his chest again and kissed me slowly, putting every bit of passion that he could into the kiss. My whole body shuddered under his lips and I smiled up at him. Leaning back from his arms I walked into the kitchen and got the small gift bag that had his present in it.

When I came back I saw Jake sitting on the couch so I moved to sit next to him, resting his present from me on the coffee table and moving my arms around his waist and kissing his shoulder just over his tribal tattoo. The heat of his skin felt comforting now, I enjoyed being close to him. I felt warm and safe and at home when I was close to my wolf.

It only took a moment for Billy to wheel out to us, placing a crudely wrapped present on the coffee table making me smile at its wrapping. Billy wasn't that good at wrapping gifts.

Jake opened his fathers first, Billy had gotten him a part for his car that he'd been wanting and of course it made Jake over the moon. I loved how simple things made my Jake happy like parts for his car.

When he got to my present I'd gotten him two. He saw the box of sweets first and grinned, moving to hug me in a tight hug making me chuckle. He loved my baking and I was pretty sure they wouldn't last nearly as long now that he ate twice as much. "Come on, theres one more." I told him.

He reached over and took out the smaller wrapped parcel in the bag. He unwrapped it and stared at the small wood carving kit I'd gotten him. He'd seen it in a store ages ago and I ended up buying it. The past couple of years he'd gotten into wood carving but was still using pretty old tools and always mentioned that he wanted some of his own. The kit wasn't huge nor that fancy, a few knives with interchangeable blades and it was in a wooden box of their own.

Jake looked over the tools and smiled happily, pulling me close to him in another tight hug. "Thanks Bells! I love it. Is this the one we saw in Port Angeles?"

I smiled into the hug, nodding. "Yeah it is. It's partially from Charlie too we went half and half on it. I knew you wanted your own tools so...yeah."

"They're great." he said happily, keeping one arm around me and looking down at the tools in the box, his free hand examining them.

Billy looked over, whistling a bit. "Thats a nice kit Bella. You have a good eye."

It made me laugh and shrug. "Well Jake saw them in the store. I just went back and got what he'd seen."

"It's perfect." Jake said, leaning to kiss my temple slowly as his hand squeezed my arm.

And it was perfect, more than just the present. I felt like I was back with the other half of my family, the Blacks. I'd missed both of them when me and Jake had temporarily broken up. We were far from back to being perfect as a couple, but I knew we were on the way.

The rest of the day was pretty fun. We'd hung out in the garage for a while, I'd watched Jake get used to his new wood carving kit, getting used to the new tools and figuring out how to change the blades. He looked like a little kid with a new toy and I supposed he _did_ have a new toy. It'd just made me smile at him.

When it came time for dinner I'd suggested going down to the beach with the picnic I had packed. Jake carried the basket and I held the blanket in my arms, strolling along the path towards the beach. I smiled as I glanced back at him, seeing him eyeing the basket of food and laughed.

"Are you that hungry? We didn't eat lunch that long ago."

His eyes shot up at me and laughed, jogging up to me and quickly moving his arm around my waist. "But I love your food Bells. And what can I say, I'm starving. I am a growing wolf boy after all." he said, squeezing my side and making me squeal with a giggle. He knew I was ticklish there.

Leaning from his arms I turned around, walking backwards and looking at him. "Well, you're right on those two. But I think you can wait."

He smiled happily up at me, his eyes sparkling. I loved when he looked like that, it made my heart nearly burst with how much I loved this boy. That love seemed to have intensified after he imprinted on me. I mildly wondered if I was affected by the imprint as well. Did the imprint have much choice on if she wanted to be with her wolf? Or did she not have any real choices, would her feelings morph into a deeper love for him? Granted I wouldn't complain, I loved Jake with all my heart already and him owning a bit more of it wasn't that much of a big deal. But I wondered for people like Emily who had met Sam for the first time. Did Emily have a choice in her imprint with Sam?

I opened my mouth to ask him, but walking backwards wasn't the _best_ idea for me. I was a klutz after all. My foot caught a loose branch in the dirt road and I fell backwards with a small yell.

Though I was encased quickly in the arms of my strong wolf who had caught me. One of his strong arms was around my waist, the blanket fallen on the ground forgotten since I had dropped it. His strong arm held me against his chest, my hair falling back towards the ground and one hand resting on the muscles of his chest.

A blush built up in me at how close we were as I looked up into his eyes and for a moment I was lost in them. Quickly he pulled me to stand up, and he must have sat the basket down because both of his arms were now around me as he stared down at me in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

I nodded, my voice caught in my throat as I looked up at him. Being close to him still made butterflies flutter in my stomach and I leaned up to slowly kiss him. The kiss was small and light as I stood up on my toes, he was quite a bit taller than me now that he'd had his wolfish growth spurt.

Our lips moved together slowly and I felt his arms pulling me impossibly tighter to his chest, making heat pool in my belly. My hands moved up and around his neck, the tips of my fingers tangling in his short hair. I could feel his warm skin even through my clothes and it made me tingle.

Everything was more intense now even when we kissed, my body reacted to him in stronger ways than before. Well, my body had always reacted to him but now it was different. It felt like a steady stream of electricity moved through my veins as he was close to me.

When we both needed air I broke the kiss and took in a slow breath. Opening my eyes I looked up into his and he smiled. "Wow. I wish you'd trip more often so I can catch you if I get _that_ kind of thanks every time." he said in a soft husky voice.

I smiled and laughed a bit, hiding my face into the side of his neck as I blushed. "Stop." I muttered. Slowly detangling myself from his arms I moved to pick up the blanket and he picked back up the basket.

My heart was racing as we kept walking, and my mind wanted to focus solely on that kiss. All I seemed to want to do at the moment was go back to kissing him. Maybe later though.

His arm slid around my shoulders as he held me close to his side, he took in a slow breath, seeming to smell the air and I looked up at him curiously. "What're you doing?"

"You smell _delicious_ right now Bells."

Glancing up at him my brow furrowed as we walked. "I smell what?"

He grinned, squeezing my shoulder and leaning to kiss the top of my ear, nuzzling his nose into my hair. "I can smell you. You always smell good but...right now...you smell absolutely delicious. I can tell how your body reacts to mine. Its um, _hard_ not to notice."

I blushed deeply at his words and smacked his chest. "Jake stop."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Can't help it. You're my mate, its natural our bodies react to one another. Not that I didn't before, but now it's just so much more intense."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels it." I muttered in a soft voice, not even sure he could hear me. But he squeezed my shoulder and shook his head.

"You're not. Trust me you're not." he groaned a bit and I glanced up at him, smiling at his face. "Especially when you smell like _that_." he added.

It made me blush but I shook my head and leaned away from his arm as we walked onto the beach. First Beach could be a hot spot for locals, so we decided to take a walk down the beach and pick a spot a little more secluded. Finally we chose a spot down from First Beach and I spread the blanket out against the sand, getting Jake to put the basket down.

We both took a seat on the blanket and I started taking out the food, giving him enough and getting some for me. I'd made chicken salad sandwiches with chips and iced tea. It was a simple lunch but we both liked it.

And as we ate I glanced at him. "Jake...can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

I thought about how to word my question as I sipped at my drink, glancing up at him. "Well...what happened with...Sam and Emily? I know you mentioned something about them imprinting..."

He shifted a bit uncomfortably and sighed. "Before Sam turned he was a normal guy like any one of us. He was in school and had dreams to go to college, come back to the res later after he'd graduated. And he was with a girl named Leah Clearwater. They were in love, so in love..she was his everything. He loved her beyond reason. And then came his change. He turned into a wolf and he was the first...and only. I can't imagine that. He didn't have anyone to turn to except the elders, and the elders were not part of the last pack. My great grandfather had been part of the last pack...so anyone that could sympathize with him were dead.."

I listened intently as his words as he explained, shifting a bit more to face him.

"Well, like I said he was the first one and he freaked out. He had to learn to change back and control his wolf all by himself, and then he had to become alpha of the pack. At least until I'm ready to take that position. Leah wasn't his imprint. You see he'd ran off when he turned and didn't come back for a couple of weeks because he couldn't figure out how to..turn back. And Leah had invited Emily to visit for moral support. You see, Emily is Leah's cousin from another reservation. As soon as he saw Emily he imprinted. It was hard on all of them, especially since Leah cannot know what we are. Sam feels really bad about it...but Emily is his imprint. Thats why I was afraid of looking into your eyes. I was afraid you weren't my imprint.."

I took in his story and thought for a minute. Shifting to sit more next to him I laid my head against his shoulder, moving to rub his arm up and down lightly. "That must be hard...imprinting on your girlfriends cousin. I feel bad for her."

"Yeah I do too. But you can't stop the imprint. Though if you weren't my imprint I'd try my damnedest to fight it." he said as he glanced down at me.

"What about Emily though? Did she have a choice in the matter? Or...or does the imprint affect us, the non wolves too?"

He smiled and sat his empty plate back into the basket and pulled me to sit on his lap. "Why? You trying to get out of the imprint?" he teased, leaning up and resting his nose against my jawline, taking in a slow breath of my scent that made me shudder. "The imprint _always_ has a choice. There should be a pull there, but it ultimately was your choice if you wanted to tell me to get lost. Like I said, I'll be whatever you need Bells...and as much as it'd kill me I'd even just be a friend to you if you needed it."

At his words he squeezed my waist, placing a kiss on my skin where his nose had been. "I loved you before the imprint, I think thats why it makes ours so much stronger. Sam and Emily had a lot to work through when they imprinted. Emily felt bad about taking Leah's boyfriend. Leah still hasn't forgiven her, I think they haven't spoken since...and they'd been so close before."

I shook my head and moved my arms around his neck. "I don't want out of the imprint by the way. I love you. I was just..wondering. Because everything feels just so much more intense now." I whispered. Shifting on his lap I moved to where I straddled him, my arms moving around his neck.

He gave me a small smile as his arms moved around my waist, playfully pulling me up against him as he leaned to kiss me slowly and sweetly. It felt so good, it made me shudder as I leaned to kiss him back. I could really get lost in him that was for sure. And right now I wanted to.

My arms held him a bit tighter as my fingers ran over the muscles of the top of his back. My head tilted to one side and I parted my lips to allow his tongue to sneak in to play with mine, tasting him in my mouth sending my head spinning. I could taste the hints of our lunch in his mouth and something that was just purely Jake.

He held me close to him and I could feel his hands settle on my hips almost hesitant. But I shifted to roll my hips, pressing myself against him. Hearing his groan in my mouth my body shuddered again and I kissed him deeper, more passionately. Our kiss grew heated and I felt his hands traveling up and down my back, gripping at my shirt a little.

When I felt the need to breathe I leaned back from his kiss, gasping in breath. "Jake.." I said in a soft moan. At my moan he eagerly leaned in to begin placing kisses along my neck. I felt my skin heat up with every place his lips touched and it made goosebumps run along my skin.

It felt so good, I became engrossed in the feeling of his hands slowly stroking my back and his lips and tongue on the skin of my neck and the top of my chest. I could feel that familiar heat pool inside me as I became excited by the feeling of him. My hips shifted and I felt his arousal against mine and I knew he was enjoying this.

His lips traveled up the side of my neck and slowly he nibbled at my ear, his fingers sliding down to cup my ass and squeeze. "Gods Bells. Tell me to stop or I can't...I want you so much."

Part of me knew what he was feeling was probably even more intense. I mean, he was the one feeling the full force of the imprint. And at the moment I couldn't find a reason to tell him no. After all I'd been ready in my bedroom a couple of weeks ago...could I be ready now? The wetness I felt pooling in my panties made me blush and yet also told me that yes, yes I could be.

I leaned back and looked into his eyes. I saw it there, his need, love, passion and lust all mixed into one as those emotions swirled through my boyfriends eyes. I could also see the slight tinge of yellow around the edges of his eyes and part of me wondered if that was his wolf peaking through.

Leaning my forehead against his and closing my eyes halfway I moved my fingers along his shoulders and down his arms. Pressing my hips up to press against his, kissing his bottom lip. "I want you too Jake. I can't tell you to stop because...because I don't want you to." I whispered slowly.

His eyes lit up a bit and he let out a slow primal growl as he leaned to kiss me deeply, intensely in a way that made me tingle.

Before I knew it he'd moved me down onto my back on the blanket and I could feel the soft sand underneath it giving and moving underneath me. Though the top of my head was in the sand, I didn't care.

His hands were everywhere at once, moving along my sides and hips, brushing my legs as I pulled them around his waist and brought his hips down against mine. Once I was settled on my back he broke the kiss to begin kissing my jawline. "W-we shouldn't here though.."

But as he said that he continued to kiss down my neck, licking and nipping at my skin and his hands moved to lightly push up my shirt. His head leaned down to kiss along my belly, I felt his teeth nip at my belly button as he lightly pushed my shirt up, his lips moving along the skin of my belly. "We should be on a bed, in a nice room...not...not out here." he whispered against my skin.

I rest my hands on the back of his neck, moving my fingers through his hair and gripping it. He was causing so many feelings to well up inside me, that heat pooling between my legs and I knew he couldn't stop. "I don't care where it is, as long as it's with you. We...we planned it once before, but that didn't go too well." I said slowly.

When his eyes looked up at me I smiled a bit. "But I'll tell you, if you stop now with no good reason...I'll never forgive you." I teased, my thighs tightening around his waist and pulling him tighter against me causing me to let out a small moan, my eyes falling closed. "P-please...Jake...I need you."

My words made me blush, I sounded so wanton the way I'd said that. But I knew he could tell...after all he could smell my arousal.

His eyes lit up and he let out a low growl against my stomach, kissing up to the middle of my chest just below my breasts. His fingers moved to push my shirt up and off and I helped him, pushing it off to the side.

I let my eyes open to look up at him, fingers sliding up his chest feeling his defined muscles. He was even more defined than the last time we'd done this and it made me bite my bottom lip to muffle the noise that part of me wanted to let slip. His hands and lips were making my body feel like it was on fire.

Gently his lips moved along the swell of my breasts, his hands moving up and down my sides. One hand lightly cupped my breast, rubbing it over my bra and causing me to arch my back into his fingers. He was driving me crazy with his fingers lips and tongue on the swells of my breasts until he finally unhooked my bra and pulled it off.

His eyes looked down at me for several minutes before he leaned in to my breasts again. Taking a nipple into my mouth and suckling on it, his other hand played with the other one making me moan out with a blush across my cheeks. My thighs squeezed him a bit more and my fingers gripped his hair tightly.

I knew my decision to actually be with him was right. He set my body on fire in ways I didn't realize were possible, that heat that pooled in my belly every time he kissed me was amazing. The feel of his lips on mine always set me on fire. I'd known long before the imprint that he was the only man I wanted.

Slowly his fingers slid down my sides, his fingertips pressing into my skin as they moved. I felt the breeze pass by and it felt cool against my heated skin. I would definitely break out in a sweat even more with how warm Jakes skin was. But I liked this new warmth.

"Jake." I moaned out slowly while he kissed over to my other nipple. Taking it into his mouth I felt his tongue work along the peak and it made me gasp a little. The things he made me feel were amazing.

My hands slid down to undo his pants and as soon as I slid the zipper down he let my nipple go. His body moved so he hovered above me, his lips a few inches from mine. I looked up into his eyes and smiled a bit, leaning to kiss his bottom lip lightly.

He kissed me back hungrily, like a man starved. The hungriness of it shocked me for a moment but I quickly melted, letting out a moan into his lips as he kissed me. It all felt so good, too good.

As I got his pants undone I began using my thighs and fingers to push them down but he stopped me. For a moment I was confused until he broke the kiss and sat up on his knees, his fingers moving down along my stomach. He took the moment to look at my skin, his eyes roaming everywhere all at once taking in the look of my body.

This time though I didn't feel embarrassed by his eyes roaming over my naked skin. I wondered if our new bond made this new confidence possible. Part of me was alright with that.

His fingers slid down to start undoing my pants, shifting back from me and leaning to kiss my belly just above my pants line. And then he pulled my jeans down and off, I'd already taken my shoes off when we'd found the site to sit down and have lunch.

With my pants off his fingers slid down my thighs and he leaned to kiss my inner left thigh making me bite my lip and moan lightly. I didn't even notice his fingers had moved until I felt his kiss on my hip just above my panties and he slid them down and off.

He leaned up again to look down at me and groaned. "Damn you're beautiful..." he whispered slowly as his hands rubbed my thighs, slowly glancing up at my face and swallowing a bit. "Um...uh, Bells I...I don't have...I don't have a condom." he muttered almost as an afterthought.

But I shook my head. "I'm on the pill. I went on it a while ago just in case."

That made him nod quickly. "Mm, good. I so did not want to stop to go find a condom. I think that'd have ruined the mood." he said with a small chuckle.

Leaning down he kissed me slowly and I smiled, shaking my head. "I wouldn't want you to either."

His hands moved back to push his khaki shorts down and off and I blushed as I looked at him. He was a handsome man and I felt entirely too ordinary next to him especially now.

Though he seemed to be able to tell my mind had wandered and he leaned to kiss me, cupping my cheek. "You're beautiful, don't forget that. I love you...just you. There isn't a woman thats prettier than you in the whole world."

I smiled at his statement and looked up into his eyes again. I could see the yellow rimming his brown eyes, his wolf lurking just beneath the surface. Now I didn't believe he'd hurt me, I trusted him with my life. But at least this time if he stopped I'd know there was something up. "You have to say that.." I whispered back lightly.

"I don't _have_ to say anything hun. It's the truth." he said, shifting his hips to press himself up against me. I could feel his hardness against my thigh and it made me draw a deep intake of breath. He leaned to kiss and nip at my ear lightly. "See what you do to me? No other girl does that." he said softly and it made me shudder.

"Oh Jake..." I muttered, shifting my thighs against his waist and pulling him closer. "I want you...please.." I whispered.

He smiled against my ear and his fingers moved down to brush over my core making me moan out. His fingers stroked me slowly, slipping one inside me. I was used to feeling his fingers, but I wanted to feel _him_. My impatience began showing and I shifted my thighs, moving my hips to press against him a little.

"Patience love. I wanna make sure I'm not hurting you." he said as he slid a second finger inside me to make me moan again.

My breath grew deeper as he moved his skilled fingers in and out of me, feeling as they parted and moved to stretch me a bit. He was very skilled with his fingers. At first it'd been odd and awkward, the first time he'd touched me like this. But we both had been new at all of this and learned slowly along the way.

The feeling of his fingers made my whole body react, my breath grew a bit more ragged as I moaned slowly. My fingers gripped his shoulders and my teeth bit into my bottom lip lightly. But all too soon his fingers were gone and I was upset at the loss of contact. Though after feeling his length press against me it made me shudder and my thighs gripped his waist.

"A-Are you sure?" he asked softly as I felt the tip of him press against my entrance.

I gave him a nod and pressed my hips against his, pressing just the tip of him inside me making me moan a bit. "M-more than sure." I muttered softly. I wanted this, I'd wanted this for a long time and it felt so right.

Feeling him stretching me as he pushed into me felt strange and mildly uncomfortable at first. After all, my boyfriend was a big _big_ boy. But as he thrust and sheathed himself inside me and paused there for me to get used to it...I was surprised. It didn't really hurt like I'd been told it would. No, instead it just felt different, I felt full. There was no real pain with it.

He stayed inside me and on top of me, resting his weight on his knees and forearms with his face pressed into the side of my neck. I could hear him breathing in deeply against me as his body shuddered against mine. It was a strange feeling being so full. But after a moment my hips started to shift, I wanted him to move.

"P-please Jake..." I muttered in a small moan, my fingers moving up and down his arms. "You can...you can move."

At my words his hips shifted back and then forward again just slowly, driving him out and then back in. I was still getting used to the new sensations but the uncomfortable feeling started to melt away into a slow pleasure building up inside me. My whole body felt on fire with every thrust of his hips, I heard moans coming from my throat without really realizing it at first.

I moaned out his name over and over as he moved. He was so gentle with me though, his hips were moving so slowly and as I'd gotten used to it I didn't want him to move slowly. "Oh...oh Jake, faster...harder, please." I moaned out as my fingers gripped his shoulders and my thighs held onto his hips.

And he complied with my request and started to move his hips a bit faster and harder, stoking the fire that was building up in me. He leaned down and captured my lips in a heated kiss, pressing me into the blanket on the sand as his hips moved. He swallowed my moans as I swallowed his. And I realized...he was letting out slow animalistic growls along with his moans. This should have freaked me out but it only made me more excited.

The fingers of one hand slid up to tangle in his hair, gripping his short locks tightly and he growled in response. His lips moved from mine and he kissed down my jawline and the side of his neck. Without me having to ask he thrust in harder to me as his lips moved up to just underneath my ear.

"G-god Bells, you feel so, so fucking good." he growled into my ear, making goosebumps move along my skin as I shuddered. His voice was deeper, huskier as he growled. Part of me knew his wolf was lurking near the surface and that just excited me.

"Oh Jake.." I moaned.

His movements felt so good as he thrust inside me over and over making me squirm and moan on the blanket. At the moment I had no clue why we had even waited so long, it felt so good to be with him now.

I felt my climax building up, a bubble deep inside me rising to the surface. I was on fire and I felt like only Jake could put it out. He seemed to notice, or I hoped he did, and he thrust in faster making me gasp and nearly let out a scream. It didn't take much longer and I was exploding, my eyes closed tightly as I finally was pushed over the edge of the proverbial cliff, his name rolling off my lips like a prayer.

He groaned and growled and I felt him nip at my neck while my insides squeezed around him. His hips thrust even harder and in quick succession against me and I knew he was urging forward his own release. My passion hazed brain could barely think. I'd never felt a climax that intense before.

I didn't register him thrust inside me fully and explode, nor did I notice his teeth pressing against my neck. It didn't hurt because I didn't even realize it, it was like I was experiencing things through a fog. It just felt so damn good.

We laid there for a moment in the afterglow of our lovemaking, him still hovering above me, pressed fully inside me. After a few moments he slid out and rolled to lay next to me. We were both breathing hard and sweating. It took me a minute to shift onto my side and press up close to his.

His arm moved around my shoulders and he tugged me flush against his side, leaning to kiss the top of my head. "I..I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked softly.

I smiled and shook my head, leaning my chin on his chest to look up at him. "No you didn't. It didn't hurt, I was surprised. It felt strange at first...but not painful. It was amazing.." I said softly, kissing the skin of his warm chest.

He smiled a bit as his hand brushed through my hair. "It was pretty amazing wasn't it."

I nodded and placed small kisses along his chest, smiling up at him. I didn't know what was getting into me, I'd thought the fire would die down after we'd finished...but now that I caught my breath it felt like it was slowly raising.

Jake closed his eyes and tilted his head back at the feel of my small kisses on his skin, his fingers stroking through my hair lightly. "Jake..?"

"Mmhm?" he asked lazily.

"Well...two things. Did you...did you bite me?" I asked first, blushing a bit.

His eyes opened wide and he looked down at me. Reaching over he pulled my hair over my shoulder and took a look. His fingers moved down along the bite mark on my neck and he swallowed thickly, nodding. "Uh...um, yeah...yeah I did...I'm sorry I couldn't stop it, my wolf you know.."

"Oh I'm not mad, I just wanted to know. What does this mean?"

"Well it means you're mine, all mine...only mine. Not all wolves do it but some do." he said. Leaning down he kissed the mark he'd left on my neck. He took in a deep breath and another growl rumbled in his chest. "Mmm, you smell more like me now. I get it.."

I could feel my cheeks heat up in a blush. "Thats...thats a good thing?"

"It'll let other males know you're mine. Males of the supernatural kind that is. Now...what was your second question?"

My blush deepened as I remembered what that was. Shifting, I rolled so I sat on top of him, straddling his waist with my hands resting on his stomach. "Can we...can we do it again? I...I can't explain this feeling I just...I need you Jake.." I said in a soft voice, slowly shifting my hips to press against him. I could already feel his erection hardening at my words and my movements.

He let out a groan and nodded. "As many times as you want babe."

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We'd had sex two more times before finally packing up our picnic and heading back to his house hand in hand. He carried our basket and I carried our blanket just like when we walked there. I smiled as we walked, laughing a bit when Jake swung our hands back and forth in a comical way.

Looking up at him I giggled. "Jake what're you doing?"

"Well, I think I'm walking back to my house with my imprint." he stated simply, shooting me a teasing grin as he still swung our hands back and forth.

I laughed and he yanked me towards his side, letting his hand go and his arm moving around my shoulders. "Todays been perfect."

"Mmhm, every day with you is perfect." he said, making me blush.

We walked slowly and his house came into view just up the hill. But something wasn't right, I felt Jacob stiffen beside me as his fingers gripped my shoulders.

"Whats wrong?" I asked, looking from him and back to the house. We didn't stop walking but we slowed down.

"Embry's here. He's yelling."

I blinked, wondering for a moment how he knew that. And then I remembered his super wolf hearing. "I wonder what about..."

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." he said, walking with me a bit quicker again up to the house. His hand moved from my shoulders and returned to take mine again instead. The closer we got the more I could hear the muffled yelling going on inside the house.

Just as we got to the porch the front door slammed open and Embry walked out quickly. Anger was written all over his face and he was practically trembling with anger. He barreled down the steps and shoved past Jacob roughly.

"Hey! What the hell Embry? Whats wrong?" Jake asked, letting my hand go and moving to grab Embry's arm.

For a moment Embry stopped but he was trembling, shaking his head slowly. "Jake..let me go. Right now."

"You know I'll see it when I phase. What happened?"

Fear welled up in my chest as well. What could have happened that set Embry off like this? Embry was a pretty laid back easy going guy, I didn't understand it. But something was seriously wrong.

Embry turned his head and glared at Jake, I could see the ring of yellow around his angry eyes. "Let. Me. Go. I need to phase, now. Go as _Billy Fucking Black_ whats the matter." he snapped, yanking his arm back and running towards the woods. He didn't even make it to the woods when he phased, his shorts and shoes ripping from his body as his grey wolf took over and he ran. He ran on his paws into the woods, and I heard a howl shortly afterwards.

I looked back to Jake and confusion was written on his face and we both looked up to the door. "Lets go find out what he was talking about..." I suggested, lightly pushing Jake towards the door.

We entered the house and found Billy still sitting in his wheelchair in the living room. Jake took the blanket and set both the basket and blanket down by the door before closing it and walking up to his dad. "Dad...what was that about? What was Embry so angry for..?"

Billy looked up and we both could see the haunted look on his face. Something was definitely bothering him. Lightly I motioned for Jake to sit on the couch and I sat down next to him, rubbing his arm slowly.

Everyone sat quietly for a few moments before Billy wheeled to sit more in front of us. "I have something to tell you. I should have told you a long time ago. Embry was here asking more questions about just exactly _why_ he is a Quileute wolf. His mother Tiffany Call is from the Makah tribe where Emily is from. He should not have phased since he believed he was not descended from the Quileutes."

Jacob nodded to his father, a more serious look on his face. "Yeah...it's weird that Embry changed. Maybe it's because he's lived on La Push his whole life?"

But Billy shook his head slowly. "No son, that's not it. He's half Quileute and half Makah. You must have the wolf gene in order to change, and for that you must be descended from the original pack in some way." he paused, looking down at his lap and then up to his sons face. "Jake, Embry is your half brother. He is my son."

The color drained from Jacobs face as he stared at his father and I stared wide-eyed as well. Embry and Jake were actually blood related? But they were both around the same age, Embry was born a little more than a year after Jake. And Sarah, Jakes mother, hadn't died until he was ten years old.

"W-What?" Jacob said and I could tell his blood was boiling. Moving my hands I took ahold of one of his, squeezing it tightly.

"Tiffany Call moved here from the Makah Reservation because of Embry. Because he's my son. Now before you get upset also please listen to me. What Tiffany and I did was a one time thing, it never happened again after that. I was young then and didn't have the best judgement-"

"No." Jacob growled, squeezing my hand back almost painfully. "No, you cheated on _my mother_. Embry is my best friend, I don't blame him for this. I blame _you_. How could you hurt mom? How? She loved you!" he yelled. And I could feel him trembling, he wanted to get up, to yell and probably to phase. But he was showing a lot of self control. "Did you ever intend on telling me? Us? Or did Embry find out by himself?"

"Tiffany told him today. She did not want to keep the secret anymore..."

Jacob shook his head and stood up, growling at his father. "Bells, lets go. I'll take you home." he said as he looked at me.

I stood up and nodded. "Alright...but shouldn't you two talk? I can drive myself home.."

"No. I'm driving you and I'm getting away from this lying, cheating son of a bitch." he stated angrily, shooting angry eyes to his father. "Don't wait up." he said before he stormed out the door, leaving me standing there with Billy.

I watched him and let out a slow sigh, looking towards Billy. "I'll talk to him and try to calm him down. Maybe he'll come home to talk to you..."

"Don't worry about it Bella. It's fine. I had hoped Jacob wouldn't need to find out about this. I had always hoped the need for the phase wouldn't come about...enjoy your evening." he said, looking up at me and giving me a small, sad smile.

It made me sigh and nod, I leaned down to hug him before I grabbed my keys to my truck and walked out. I found Jake pacing back and forth in front of my trucks door practically fuming. Walking up to him I moved my arms around his waist and leaned close to his chest. Shifting up on my toes I placed a slow kiss on his lips.

"Hey. Calm down, everything will work itself out in the end."

"But he cheated on my mom Bella...how...how can I be okay with that?" he asked, his voice sounding almost broken when he spoke about his mother. "Did my mom die knowing he was a cheating bastard? Or did she believe he was faithful to her the whole time?"

I shook my head, rubbing his sides gently. "You'd have to ask Billy about that."

"I can't face him, I'm so mad at him right now...I'm so mad he did that to my mom."

Sighing I nodded, leaning to kiss the middle of his chest, looking up at him. "I understand that. You'll have to talk to him sometime. But, in the meantime come on, drive me home wolf boy." I said with a smile, attempting to lighten his mood. Taking my keys and pushing them into my hand I walked around to the passengers side and climbed in.

When I glanced over I saw the small smile on his lips at my nickname before he got into the drivers side, turning the truck on and starting to pull away from his house. "Wolf boy huh?"

"Mmhm yeah. Well, you are a wolf boy." I said with a laugh. Shifting close to him in the seat I took one of his arms and pulled it around my shoulders, cuddling up to his side. "But you're _my_ wolf boy."

I could feel the small contented growl rumble through his chest before he nodded. "All yours. And...and just so you know I'd never do that to you. What my dad did to my mom. Even before the imprinting and the wolf thing. I wouldn't cheat on you like that. You've always been my life Bells..."

His words were sweet and they made me blush, looking up at his face and nodding. "I know. You're going to have to find a way to forgive him for it you know.."

"Maybe...but not right now." he mumbled as his fingers gripped my shoulder just lightly. "My mom...she was a saint. She loved him so much..and the bastard cheated on her. I don't understand how you can love someone so much and cheat on her..."

"Well...perhaps you should ask him that." I suggested, rubbing his chest a bit as he drove. "Your mom was great. They had a great relationship. People make mistakes. I'm not saying it was right...but I'm saying you should talk to him, listen to his story. But first you need to calm down."

His arm held me tightly against his side as he drove with one hand. "Yeah..what I remember of them were great. They were good together, so happy and in love. I guess everyone wants to see their parents as having the perfect relationship..."

"No relationship is perfect. Life isn't some fairy tale. Sometimes happily ever after is a lot harder than just meeting your soul mate and saving her. You have to work at things. We can make mistakes. Maybe your dads mistake was just...a huge one. Who knows. But the bright side of all of this is that Embry is really your brother..."

A smile moved over his lips and he nodded. "Mmhm...yeah I suppose thats a good thing. He's always been my brother, but now he's actually my brother..."

"Poor Embry..." I sighed, closing my eyes halfway. "He's got to live with this too you know. That his mom didn't tell him who his father was...that you were his half brother. That he had this whole family. I understand why he was so upset earlier.."

Jacob nodded as his hand gripped the wheel. "Yeah I get it. I'll go talk to Embry first. Then maybe my dad. But...but I don't want to leave you yet."

I smiled and shook my head. "You don't have to if you don't want to." I offered. He just nodded and drove on, winding my old truck through the streets of La Push and into Forks, heading towards my house. I cuddled into his warmth in the cold Forks air. I hadn't bothered to turn on my heater when we'd gotten in, I rarely ever did now. Now I had a reason to cuddle up to him since it was cold.

He pulled up to my house and parked just in front, turning the car off but neither of us moved. I sighed as I looked up at him. "Are you coming in?"

"I dunno. I might go talk to Embry. Can I...can I come by later?"

"Sure." I said with a smile, shifting to sit up and looking at him. "I'll leave my window open a bit." I told him before I leaned to kiss him.

My lips lingered on his as he kissed me back. It felt so good to kiss him, even more-so now. And he kissed me back quite passionately. The feel of his lips moving on mine made my body shudder. I blushed as I felt the familiar heat pooling in my belly and the wetness between my thighs. This reaction my body had to just kissing him like this was new. Granted he'd always excited me, but this was a lot tamer than normal.

He let out a groan against my lips before he leaned back. "Bells, you smell absolutely delicious. You're going to be the death of me...and making it really... _hard_ to leave." he said, kissing my bottom lip slowly.

My blush deepened at his acknowledgement of my arousal, shrugging. "I can't help it. I wonder if this is how things will be now. And...and if this is a wolf thing or if it's just a...we had sex today thing.."

A grin moved across his lips. "Mmm, we had sex today..." he said and I couldn't help but laugh at how happy he sounded.

"We did."

His hands moved to brush my hair from my face before he leaned back. "I think...I think it's partially a wolf thing. You're my imprint Bella, I marked you as mine. I understand how you feel though. All I want to do is drag you into your room and make love to you until we can't take it anymore."

Again I laughed, looking up into his eyes. "I wish. So...so I guess this is normal?"

"I suppose. I'll talk to Sam later about it. It's going to be really hard to leave you today my sweet imprint."

Smiling, I placed one more kiss on his lips before taking my keys and sliding out of the truck. He slid out too and I glanced back at him as I walked towards my door. "I'll see you later?"

"For sure." he said, waving a bit but he didn't move.

And he didn't move, he stayed there as I walked towards my door and went inside. When I glanced back he was still there, waiting to see that I was inside safe. Closing the door behind me I leaned back against it for a moment. Part of me was worried about how Jacob would handle Billy and Embry. But the other part of me knew he would be just fine.

Either way, I'd find out later. And time would slow down and crawl forward until the next time I'd get to see my wolf boy.

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A/N: Aanndd Chapter fin! Wow, this one was long haha. I think the longest yet - wow.

How did you like the little Embry surprise I put in there? Hehe. And I'd also decided for them to actually have sex, it was a last minute decision but I thought it turned out pretty well.

Let me know! As always read and review! I love the reviews!


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